No Way Back
by FiLau
Summary: After Cedric's death, Draco saves Harry from Crouch on impulse, jeopardizing her own safety.Harry cannot seem to stop laughing. How nice that she and Potter could synchronize their mental breakdowns.Past-Girl!Draco/Cedric,eventual-Girl!Draco/Harry
1. Chapter 1

_He didn´t even feel it, really._

"_Avada Kadavra!" _

_The green light enveloped him, throwing him away a few feet with its force. A pair of twinkling grey eyes told him to resist, but he knew it was too late. _

_What had been said had been done._

_The white light was almost blinding in its brilliance, welcoming him with open arms. _

"_Not yet" someone said pleadingly "Please, not yet"_

"_You have to help us save our son"_

_The woman was unfamiliar, but the man looked a lot like Harry. He agreed to help them, because he needed to send a message._

_Cedric had never in his ugliest nightmares imagined he´d see the Dark Lord himself. _

_He was humanoid, that was for sure, but his face didn´t look human. It was like something out a horror movie. _

_A glimpse of blond hair caught his eye._

_Lucius Malfoy was standing behind his Lord, looking at the scene unravel, not caring that the boy fighting was the same age as his daughter. He wondered how a man like that had managed to raise a girl like Draco. _

_Draco´s Daddy issues made a lot more sense now._

…don´t say I didn´t give you an out.

"_Take my body to my father, Harry" he said. Harry looked like he was torn between crying and passing out from exhaustion, but he nodded anyway". And tell Draco that I love her"_

_He did what the Potters told him to help Harry. Harry was a good guy, he had to live, and he would make sure his message got to Draco. She, more than anyone, deserved to know she was loved._

_He thought, before he was completely gone, that life had been good._

* * *

The air was damp and cold, and the strong wind kept making her hair lash at her face. The dry leaves were dancing violently in the air, while the grey sky roared with thunder and raindrops fell to the ground.

A piercing scream tore its way through the crowd, silencing every murmur, setting every nerve on edge, closing it´s cold fingers around her heart and squeezing mercilessly.

Potter had come out of the maze, wild eyed. He was clutching at something. Someone.

_See? I told you we shouldn´t have gotten out of bed this morning. Silly girl_ said the little voice in the back of her head. It stood out, that little voice, as it always had before. It was the pessimist little voice, the brutally honest one, that resembled Sev´s so closely. Absently, she wondered why that didn´t bother her more.

The little voice laughed.

* * *

"_Why are you so worried?" Cedric asked._

_Draco started. She hadn't known he was awake. _

"_I´m not worried" She couldn´t lie to him, she knew that, but she was good at dodging subjects, so she tried "I was merely wondering how, exactly, was I going to carry your enormous self all the way back to the castle"_

"_And, while you were at it, you were planning on the best way to blackmail me into owing you one" He decided to let her dodge. _Be patient_ he thought, _she´ll tell you eventually.

"_Naturally. What sort of woman do you think I am?" she sat up straight and showed him her most dignified pose "I am a Malfoy, and I have a reputation to keep. Said reputation would have been severely damaged had I been forced to parade around school grounds with you on my back. I would have made quite a funny picture. Like an ant carrying a nut"_

"_Yes, yes, severely damaged, indeed" he said in a faked aristocratic voice " Extra damage would have been made by the fact that you look absolutely debauched, what with you wearing my shirt and all. The twigs and grass combination looks great in your hair, though" _

"_How un-gentlemanly of you to put me in that situation" she dried imaginary tears from her cheeks "And here I was, naively believing that you loved me, while all you wanted to do was… wait, did you say twigs?"Draco started combing her fingers furiously through her hair, a horrified expression on her face. _

_Cedric laughed and she shot him an evil glare, but not even Draco Malfoy could look menacing while sitting cross-legged on the grass, wearing an oversized shirt and sporting love bites all over her neck._

_Well, not too menacing._

"_I hate you" Draco said, her narrowed eyes blazing like grey slits of evil._

"_You love me" he retorted, because he knew it to be true "I swear it, Draco, sometimes you are a real drama queen. Are all Slytherins like that? Is that what you practice in your common room?"_

"_Yes, we do practice theatricality", she answered, abandoning her death glaring activities and choosing to pull grass out of her pale hair instead, " but mostly we just slaughter little bunnies and eat their eyes. Muahahahaha! " Her attempt at evil laughter was, actually, pretty scary, but Cedric only shook his head and smiled._

"_You´re incorrigible" he said as a blond snake climbed on top of him. There were still twigs in her hair, but she looked happy and, really, sleeping in the forest had its advantages._

_No nosy house-mates, for one._

"_Am I?" she was so close he could feel her breath on his lips and his arms came around her naturally._

"_You are, love" _

_Draco kissed him. He thought that, after a certain amount of times, and bearing in mind that he was the eldest of the two, kissing should have lost its appeal but, yet again, he got dizzy with the taste of her, and it was just like the first time. _

_Sometimes, when he concentrated really hard, he could forget about everything else. He could forget about the darkness lurking at every corner, about the pain Draco carefully hid behind smirks and insults, about those nightmares she wouldn´t tell him about._

_He was seventeen, and she was fourteen, but he was so much younger. He was not exactly innocent, but he hadn´t seen the kind of things she had. He knew that._

"…_I_´m tainted"_, she told him sometimes, when she woke up from a nightmare spent crying out a girl´s name," _you should get away from me… before it´s too late".

_Draco was so smart and, yet, she couldn´t figure out the simplest of things._

_Sitting here together on a clearing in the forest, kissing her sweet lips, Cedric knew._

_You can´t choose who you fall for._

"_I might be incorrigible too" he whispered when they parted._

_She gave him a smile that was either sinful or angelic._

…before it´s too late…

Maybe_, he thought, _it already is_._

* * *

_Please don´t be dead, don´t be dead…_

Cedric lay on the grass and a crowd was forming around him. She was running to him as fast as she could, praying to any god that would listen and trying boldly not to scream hysterically, because this was _not_ happening.

Her heart wasn´t hammering in her chest, cold dread was not rapidly enveloping her, she wasn´t running through a field towards an enchanted maze to check if her boyfriend was alive.

_You are making an art out of denial, child_, the voice smirked an annoying smirk in her mind, and she took comfort in that familiarly brutal honesty.

Trust Severus to make insults comforting.

Potter was wild eyed, trembling miserably in fear or cold or pain, or maybe all three, but Draco really couldn´t blame him. His tear streaked face was dirty and he was clutching at Cedric while he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Cedric was pale, much paler than usual. He wasn´t moving, wasn´t breathing, and his eyes were open, staring unseeingly up at the darkened heaven.

"He´s back! Voldemort´s back!" Potter kept repeating the words, his voice ragged and scratchy. Cedric´s father was sitting next to him, one hand covering his eyes and the other clutching at his son, much like Potter was doing, as if by touching him they could will his soul to come back to them.

Draco half knelt, half dropped next to Cedric´s body and clutched at him, too.

* * *

_The first time he saw Draco Malfoy, she had been sitting on a stool in the great hall, the Sorting Hat slowly descending to meet her shiny white-blond head. He didn´t even have time to blink before the Hat shouted out its decision. _

_Slytherin. Huh._

_The girl smiled, but she didn´t look surprised. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she sneaked a glance over her shoulder at the professor´s table, but she didn´t look at the Headmaster, as most first years did. Her eyes strayed to the far end, right next to the wall, where a black haired man nodded subtly at her. The girl beamed, walking proudly all the way to the Sytherin´s table._

_Cedric had never thought he would live to see someone be glad to see Professor Snape_

_He thought nothing of her, at first, but soon the Malfoy-Potter rivalry was known all around the school and even the older students gathered to see them fight. Everyone, him included, was on Potter´s side. He was, after all, the Boy-Who-Lived, and they all had been raised to believe he was their savior, even if_ _he was only a skinny little kid. Also, Slytherins were cruel and selfish and downright evil._

_They had been raised to believe that, too._

_The first month of his fourth year passed in a blur of school grades and Quidditch and girls and Quidditch, but occasionally he found himself looking for a familiar blond head in the crowded hallways or across the Great Hall, where the Slytherins were. _

_Malfoy, he decided, would be the death of them all if she ever set out for world domination. _

_She was charming, in a very weird way, and she had the older Slytherins eating out of her hand within weeks. Her innocent and angelic looks clashed with her nasty attitude and violent outbursts, but gave her momentary advantage over her adversaries: they never saw it coming._

_Only a week after school had started, all the prefects knew patting Draco Malfoy´s head was not safe business, and a written parchment had circulated through the school to make it official: no older student´s hand was to come near Malfoy´s head, unless they wanted to have it bitten off. _

_Cedric thought it was hilarious._

"_You cannot be serious" he had said once he´d finished laughing his head off at the ridiculous formal letter. It had the school seal, too, so the Headmaster had seen it and approved._

"_Laugh all you want" said Russell, a Ravenclaw prefect he´d known all of his life, in a serious, no nonsense way, while Cedric doubled over in renewed fits of uncontrollable laughter ", but this is not a joke. She had Jasmine sent to the infirmary and, when she was asked for explanation, she pulled out some rubbish about Pureblood hair sensitivity, and they believed her!"_

"_They bought that crap?"_

"_Yes! I know, it's unbelievable" he looked out at the lake, fuming ". Swear it, those Slytherins, they get worse every year. And that girl is a danger, no matter what Dumbledore says"._

_Cedric hadn´t really known what to say, so he´d just stuck with a neutral "Hmmm" and gone back to admiring the lake._

_Every boy and girl brought up in a magical home had the illusion of going to Hogwarts and getting selected into a good House, just as every boy and girl knew that if you got selected into Slytherin, you were pretty much destined to be an evil Dark Lord._

_Slytherins were vile, competitive, awful creatures that showed no respect for any good thing in life. They hurled insults like daggers, started fights unprovoked and kicked their opponents when they were down. Slytherins were treacherous, and could not be trusted._

_On Cedric´s fifth year, the petrifactions started. A monster was running rampant trough the school, petrifying students left and right. Rumors started to rise about a descendant of Slytherin or, more precisely, Heir. The monster was being controlled. No Slytherin student had been attacked._

_The one to blame was a Slytherin, everyone decided, and that Slytherin was Draco Malfoy._

_As a general rule, all Slytherins were known to be unpleasant people, but they were usually calm and collected. Gradually, as the accusations towards Malfoy escalated, they became more and more protective of their own, to the point of getting really hostile to the other Houses._

_Malfoy, ever the little Ice Princess, bore the accusations like a cloak, threatening everyone that came close and hexing those who would not be moved with insults. When the events came to an end, and she was proved innocent, Malfoy looked at them all with palpable loathing and resentment, though everyone saw only the first._

_By the time Cedric got into Hogwarts, he had known the Slytherins to be vile, evil creatures._

_By the end of fifth year, he knew that they were protective of their own, but they were still evil and unpleasant._

_At the end of the year, while he´d been walking through the crowd at King´s Cross, looking for his father, Draco Malfoy stumbled and fell onto him._

"_Sorry" she said, flashed him a disarming smile and walked away, alone._

_After that, he didn´t really know what to think._

* * *

His soul didn´t come back.

In fact, nothing really magical happened. Magic was funny like that: the only moment when you really needed it, it failed you.

"…he wanted… m-me to b-bring his b-body back" Potter cried and Draco envied him, because he could cry like a baby and she could not even squeeze a tear. Maybe he was crying because she couldn´t, and she had the inappropriate need to laugh at the thought of Potter doing something like that for her.

She felt something cold against her hand, and was horrified to find, when she looked down, that it was Cedric´s hand pressed against hers. The noises around her disappeared, the people ceased to matter, and the cold air didn´t register were it punished her skin, because it wasn´t as cold as Cedric´s pale fingers.

He´d told her not to worry, that it would be fine, that he wouldn´t leave her, but he hadn´t known he´d been lying and now he was gone. She wanted so badly to slap the little liar across the face if he would just wake up… She remembered Sleeping Beauty, then, and Snow White, and how much her sister had loved it when Draco read them to her, how happy they´d both been to see that love always beat all odds.

She leaned down and kissed Cedric´s cold lips, but still, nothing happened. For a moment there, she could have sworn she heard her heart implode, making a sound much like the Pac Man did when you lost. It really was Game Over, then.

Draco sighed, and looked up.

Potter was gone.

She stood up, her mind was reeling. Where the fuck was he? Dumbledore was talking to the press, keeping them away from Draco, Cedric and his father. McGonagall was herding the nosy students back to the castle and, she noticed, so was Sev. She wanted to go to him, grab at his black robes and cry, just as she used to when she was little. But the times had changed, and no one thought of her as little anymore. She didn´t want to leave Cedric, but…

Potter. Moody. Crouch.

Cedric was gone, but Potter was still alive.

"_Not for long, thanks to you"_ the little voice said. If that didn´t bring her back to her senses, she didn´t know what could.

Draco let out a string of curses that would make a sailor blush and, with a last longing look at Cedric, she ran off, following the tell-tale smell of Sal ammoniac.

Crouch was a bastard, but he could brew some Polyjuice. His potion was very good, much better than Granger´s anyway, but he had made a mistake when he´d decided to carry it around in his hip flask: the ingredients concentrated, and concentrated Sal ammoniac was easy to trace, if you had a good nose.

The school grounds were quiet since, despite their efforts, the teachers hadn´t been able to take the students back to the castle. The voices faded as Draco treaded closer, wand in hand, following her nose and keeping an ear out for danger. Potter had said that Voldemort was back and more Death Eaters other than Crouch might be around, so she wasn´t about to take any chances. Also, if she concentrated hard enough, maybe she could forget about the feeling of Cedric´s icy fingers against hers. Fingers that only hours before had been warm and full of life, had been left cold, as if Death itself had kissed each fingertip.

She told herself to focus on the task at hand and kept walking, fighting against the urge to go find Death and beat the shit out of it.

Now that the numbness of denial had gone, Draco wanted to break things. She had read somewhere that grieving had five stages, but she only knew three: the instant reaction to _Deny! Deny! Deny!, the_ sudden impulse to destroy just to proof she could and, finally, the overtaking need to just go somewhere quiet and die. The first two didn´t last long. She had learned to live with the last one a long time ago by transforming it into brief fits of rage. It was rather effective.

Draco followed the gross smell all the way to a storage room on ground level she recognized as Fake Moody´s "office". The lights were on, the door was left ajar and she could hear Crouch´s ugly voice coming from within.

"_Periculum!"_ she whispered, and green sparks came out of her wand, cutting through the darkness and illuminating the dark skies, letting Sev know she´d found Potter.

"_The wounded animal"_ her mind supplied, reminding her of a particular night spent in the Forbidden Forest, looking for unicorns with an annoying boy and a cowardly hound and finding something else.

The night was still silent, so she didn´t have to strain to hear Dumbledore and the others´ hurried steps coming closer, even though they were muffled on the grass.

She could have waited. She could have stayed outside of trouble and let the professors handle everything, but every nerve in her body was tense, waiting for the plunge, and her blood was running hot with grief, pain and rage. So much rage…

So, technically, she could have waited. She should have waited. Maybe, in another universe, another Draco Malfoy would have waited, but she, being who she was, threw the door open and hurled the first spell.

It ended very fast. She had the element of surprise, so Crouch´s wand flew as soon as she walked in, but the man came right at her, enraged and betrayed, ready to attack physically. Moody/Crouch was a lot bigger and stronger, but Draco hadn´t grown up with Greg and Vincent in vane, and she had so much pent up rage she could probably slaughter a troll, so she could throw him off easily enough. Dumbledore came in just as the man hit the floor, and she left the un-masking to him.

Applying justice was Gryffindor business, after all.

Draco stood aside and watched Sev administer Veritaserum on the guy, who had been dumb enough not to build up resistance to it, and saw him confess the location of the real Alastor Moody with a head gesture. She wasn´t very surprised to see he´d also been stupid enough to keep him in his office.

She remembered that Potter was still there when she heard a choked sob from behind her.

He was sitting on a low chair, head bowed and shoulders hunched, shivering miserably. Potter was the embodiment of defeat, sitting there like the world was falling apart and he just didn´t know how to deal with it.

She could relate to that.

Draco walked to him and stood next to his chair. She went through her mind drawers for something to say, but she had never been good at comforting people, so she just did what Sev always did to her when she felt like shit, and pressed her palm to his bowed head. She didn´t really like Potter, and he hated her, but Draco wasn´t used to seeing him like this so, since everyone else was too busy to comfort him, she thought this was okay.

Potter seemed to think so, too, because he raised his eyes to her, started to cry again, and buried his face in her jumper. His hands came up, too, grabbing fistfuls of the soft material of her jogging gear, and Draco, out of her depth, threaded her fingers through his hair in what she hoped was a soothing manner.

"H-he wanted…" Potter started between sobs, and Draco bit her lip "He wanted me to… t-tell you that … he l-loved you"

Her teeth cut through her lip, and her own blood tasted bitter.

"Come on, Potter" she said, using the same tone she always used when a first year got a scrapped knee "I´ll walk you to your common room"

The world would stop for no one, least of all for Draco Malfoy.

She helped Potter stand up and headed for the door. She avoided looking at Crouch where he was pressed with spells to the floor while Dumbledore tried to take the real Moody out of the enchanted chest, but she made sure to ground her heel on his hand, hard. She felt an odd sort of satisfaction upon hearing bones break, knowing Crouch had been put under Silentio and could not scream.

Draco thought that was fair payback for turning her into a ferret.

She nodded at Sev on her way out, and he raised the Concerned Eyebrow, but he didn´t comment on the blood staining her lips.

Potter stumbled and Draco steadied him, pulling his arm around her shoulders and, together, they began the slow walk back to the castle.

_He loved me_ she thought.

The world wouldn´t stop, she knew that, but, for a moment, she felt that it should.

* * *

_The Quidditch World Cup was Cedric´s favorite event of the year. _

_His father would take time off work and they would spend time together, bonding over the only thing they had in common: Quidditch. This year, his father had invited Arthur Weasley and his children, as well as Harry Potter. The Weasleys were okay, they were funny, especially the twins, and Potter kept staring at everything with amazement, his eyes wide, taking it all in. Mr. Weasley told him Harry had been raised as a muggle, so Cedric took on the task of answering his questions about port keys, magical tents and the best international Quidditch players. _

_The girls kept giggling behind his back in a rather annoying way. He chose to overlook that._

_It was a good night for a Quidditch game. The sky was clear, splattered with stars, and the cheering crowd was anxious, waiting for the game to start. Cedric was impatient, too. He loved that feeling only Quidditch could give him, that excitement that made him dizzy when he was playing, or only watching, and made him grin like an idiot. _

_Just as he was checking the huge stadium countdown clock, a glimpse of white hair from the high class seats caught his attention._

_She was sitting next to her father, near the Minister of Magic, looking for all the world like she was lounging on a couch at a tea party, instead of making do with the uncomfortable chairs of the Quidditch stadium. She looked taller and older, but there was something about her face, something he couldn´t quite place. It had been there before, but …_

"_Bloody Malfoy" one of the twins said, coming to stand next to him. The others, his father included, came after him, wearing similar annoyed expressions ". Such a fucking show-off…"_

"_Did you see the way she backed off when her father told her to? Like a well trained lap-dog…" the other twin joked and they all laughed_

"_She shows off her money because she has nothing else to show off" said Hermione matter-of-factly_

"_Well, she is a Slytherin, after all" Mr. Weasley said "You know how they are"_

_There was no arguing that._

_The game was great and so was the company. They sang and cheered together trough the game, and they joked all the way back to the tents. He played cards with the twins and made fun of Ron´s hero worship for Victor Krum so it was, all together, a very pleasant camping day._

_The Dark Mark lightning up the night sky was the first sign that everything was about to go horribly wrong. The screams were the second._

_Cedric ran off to the woods, in search of the port key, herding Harry, Hermione, Ron and his sister before him, trying very hard not to panic. Just as they were about to reach their destination, they were surrounded by men with dark robes and masks._

_Death Eaters._

_Their wands were gone within a moment, and Cedric had never felt so very helpless. They crowded together, the Death Eaters were closing in, wands extended, and the screams, even this far away, seemed to become louder. They were closing in…_

"_Expelliarmus!" _

_And just like that, a golden light-wave sent all of their wands flying. _

_The Death Eaters disappeared in puffs of black smoke and right there, with her wand poised for a fight and the same strange something he´d seen before bare on her face, was Draco Malfoy. She lowered her wand, casted them a disinterested look and walked away, her bright blond hair disappearing in the wild, terrified crowd._

"_What´d just happened?" Ron broke the silence first_

"_I´m…not sure" answered Hermione with the tone of someone very upset at not knowing something. _

_Harry looked like he was about to say something, but just then Cedric´s father and Mr. Weasley came looking for them, wrecked with concern._

_It wasn´t until much later that Cedric realized exactly what had been off about Malfoy._

_She looked haunted._

* * *

Gryffindor tower was the second highest tower in the castle, the highest being the Astronomy Tower. Draco knew this. She had been silently cursing every single step she´d had to climb to get there.

Even though he didn´t need Draco to support his weight anymore, Potter was still clinging to her like a lifeline.

His right arm was still around her shoulders, and his other hand was clutching at her right sleeve, while her right arm was draped around his waist. She could have made some smart remarks with sexual undertones to embarrass him, start up a fight and make him come out of the trance. She was, however, bone tired now that the anger had faded a bit and, as appealing as a fist fight with Potter usually was, all she wanted to do was go to her bed and sleep.

By the time they were standing before the painting of a very fat, aristocratic lady with a weird hair style, Potter surfaced long enough to say the password in a tired, empty voice. The woman in the portrait gave Draco a distrusting look, to which she responded with a death glare that that spoke of paint remover in high doses and must have been quite potent, because the woman looked frightened and the door-portrait swung open.

Gryffindor common room was exactly as she´d pictured it. It was big and red and warm and cozy.

And there was no one there.

"Why aren´t they here yet?" asked Potter, trying not to sound worried. He might have succeeded, had his arm not pulled her closer to him

"They are probably on their way back" Draco answered, too tired to push him away "C´mon now, you don´t need to worry about that"

"Hmm"

Climbing the stairs to the Gryffindor boy´s dorm rooms carrying a catatonic Harry Potter turned out to be harder than she´d expected. They stumbled on the third step and winded up half crawling all the way up to a hallway with doors on both sides.

"Which one´s yours?" she asked Potter.

Potter didn´t answer.

She took a deep breath, knowing that dropping him in the hallway to fend for himself would invalidate all the job it had taken her to carry him there, thus rendering the entire thing useless. She elbowed him in the stomach instead.

"Wake up!"

"Hey!" Potter cried out, but didn´t remove his arm from her shoulders "What was that for?"

"Why, I don´t know. Maybe because I am doing you a favor by carrying your pathetic, non-responsive ass to your room and you can´t even wake the last usable neuron you have left to answer a simple question?"

He made a vague hand gesture she interpreted as ¨the last one on the left¨. Several deep breaths later, Draco dragged Potter to it and, one handed, began the hard task of opening a door with a doorknob that moved around if a non-Gryffindor tried to touch it. Yay.

"Fucking bitch, let me in"

She finally grabbed at the piece of metal and began trying to turn it when she heard a faint sniffling sound, accompanied by a slight trembling, come from Potter. She was aware that she must have looked a little ridiculous, standing there completely drenched and covered in mud, cursing an inanimate object, but this was going much too far.

A wise man had once told Draco her inability to keep herself from lashing out at inanimate objects would put her in embarrassing situations in the years to come. Years later, standing in a hallway with a laughing Harry Potter hanging of her neck, she hated the fact that Severus was always right.

"Don´t laugh, you moron!" she hissed, annoyed that the corner of her mouth was itching to come up, and tried to push him away, but only succeeded in taking his arm off her shoulders.

"I´m…I´m sorry!"Potter was laughing freely now, his hand giving up its prized place on her sleeve in order to cover his face. "It´s just that… you… everything… all this is… so… so…"

"Surreal" Draco supplied, taking pity on him, as she rested her weight on the door "I know"

She let out a sudden giggle and froze, startled. Apparently, the horrified expression on Draco´s face was priceless, because Potter took one look at her and doubled over. Draco slid down to the floor, looking at him, and laughed, too.

How nice that she and Potter could synchronize their mental breakdowns.

They laughed and laughed and laughed until their sides hurt. Just when they´d thought that they´d finished laughing, they´d looked up at each other's flushed faces and laughed some more. The absurdity of the situation must have been ridiculous, but laughing with Potter in a hallway was a better choice than crying in front of him. This way, she was ridiculous, but at least she wasn´t pathetic.

By the time she´d wasted enough oxygen to feel dizzy, Draco felt better. She didn´t feel good or fine or anything extreme like that, and she was drained, but at least now she had the strength to go back to her own common room without breaking down on the way.

Potter was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, eyes closed, gasping for breath. There were scratches all over his face, but they were nothing serious. Draco frowned at the droplets of blood on the floor and it took her tired brain a full minute to realize it came from the ugly gash on Potter´s forearm. Sighing, she crawled to him. After bullying her protestin arm into not trembling, she took out her wand.

"Show me your arm" she would beat the shit out of her vocal chords for making her voice sound so weak later. She cleared her throat "It might get infected"

Potter looked like he really wanted to argue, but decided he was too tired to do so, and settled for letting out a resigned sigh as he showed her the wound. It wasn´t deep, but it was dirty and might get infected. Draco steadied Potter´s trembling arm with one hand and got to work.

After cleaning the wound, a whispered "Episkey" was enough to make it heal. She inspected the newly repaired skin for a few seconds before letting the arm drop and looking at its owner´s face. Potter was looking at the extremity as if it didn´t belong to him.

"Who did it?" Draco asked bluntly, because there really wasn´t any other way to ask "Who killed him?"

"Peter Pettigrew" Potter answered, in a voice much too small for it to be his, while he observed the very interesting mud their shoes had left on the floor."The Cup was a port key… It took us to a cemetery. Wormtail was there… and so was Voldemort"

The anger she was keeping carefully controlled flared up at the sound of that name, all illusions of calm forgotten. Potter was safe now and the urge to break things was back with vengeance.

Potter looked better, much less like a corpse and much more like a live human being. Draco assumed this was as much of a guaranty as she would get that it was safe to leave him alone, nodded once and made to get up. She had only managed to pull her legs under herself when a hand grabbed her arm.

"Wait" Potter ordered rather than requested, and Draco knew he too needed to let the rage out "Are you with him? Because if you are, so help me God, I…"

"Unhand me, Potter" she was good at ordering stuff too, and he let go of her hand at once "Am not. There´s no need for you to worry" she resumed her attempt at standing up

"Do you believe me?"

Draco stilled.

She knew what he was asking. Did she believe him when he said Voldemort wasn´t good and dead, as everyone thought he was?

Draco thought of Dark magic and green light; of her father´s cruel words and her mother´s indifference; of her sister´s frightened big blue eyes; and of a monster drinking unicorn blood in the dead of night.

She thought of the screams of a little girl she´d failed to save, and of Cedric´s cold lips pressed against hers.

"Yes" she said at last" I believe you. But it isn´t me I´d be worried about"

"Whom, then?"

"Everybody else" with inmense effort, she got up in one very not-fluid motion and turned toward the stairs.

"Wait"

"What?" Draco snapped, turning back to look down at Potter, who looked positively embarrassed.

"I can´t get up. Could you please help me get to my bed?" the words were spoken fast, and Draco watched interestedly as Potter´s face was covered in a blush that started at his nose and spread around. She smirked.

"Why, Potter" her smirk slowly transformed into a mocking grin ", if you want me in your bed, you should just ask, but you´re going to owe me dinner and a movie"

"I d.…! You-I… Shut up, Malfoy!" Potter screamed, blush rising to nuclear levels as Draco laughed. "Wait a minute" he looked curious "How do you know about movies?"

"An old man I know likes them" she answered, stretching with a yawn ". He always takes me to Muggle London to look at them"

"´Watch´ them" Potter corrected

"Whatever" she extended her hand to him "You look like crap"

"Fuck you, Malfoy" he said, grabbing her hand.

Draco smiled sensually. "Anything you want, baby"

By the time she left Potter safely in his bed, his fluorecent blush still hadn´t faded.

* * *

Her footsteps echoed loudly around the deserted hallways as she walked away from Gryffindor tower, but she could not hear anything.

If what Potter had said was true, and Voldemort was back, more than one person would refuse to believe it. Everyone was comfortable with the so called "truth" the Ministry had cooked up for them, the story about motherly love saving the world and freeing them from evil forever. Lily Potter´s sacrifice had rid them from the direct threat, but there was more to the story than that. Voldemort was no fool, the man had a back-up plan for his back-up plans, and this was no exception.

It had taken him almost fifteen years to get this far. He wouldn´t back off.

Draco knew only bits and pieces she had recollected to help Sev and Dumbledore protect Potter through the years, nothing more. She had never dared to go further than listening behind closed doors and interpreting signals, but now…

Now things were different.

Students began filling the hallways, finally returning from the macabre show the Last Task of the Triwizard Tournament had been. Every boy and girl she passed by gave her looks of either awe or fear, as if they thought she had been the one to cause all of this. Those looks she could ignore.

"Malfoy! Malfoy, wait!"

Draco turned around, surprised to see two thirds of the Golden Trio running to her. Granger looked on edge, her usually calm façade apparently discarded at some point during the night, along with any form of hair style she might have had. The Weasel wasn´t much better, with his orange hair sticking up in all directions and his face so pale his freckles looked like the dying ambers of a fire.

She had never noticed how much they seemed to fit together.

"Snape told us you´d taken Harry back to the castle?" Weasley asked rather than stated. It didn´t escape to Draco that he was avoiding her eyes, while Granger emanated toxic spills of sympathy.

"I did" she answered "He's in his dorm" Draco paused, frowning "Wouldn´t it have been easier to go there first instead of chasing me around the school? I would expect that stupidity from the Weasel, but I thought you smarter, Granger"

"Don´t be like that" Granger´s soothing tone was almost as annoying as her pitying eyes "You don´t have to pretend you´re not upset, not when…"

"…my boyfriend just died?" Draco finished for her"Don´t mind me, I´m fine. I don´t need a Mudblood to make me feel better. Go find Potter"

Granger looked like she was about to retort, but the Weasel beat her to it.

"Why did you save him? I mean, you hate Harry, but you were the first one to go after him" Weasley sounded uncertain "Why?"

Why had she? Good question.

Slytherins were always proud of being sneaky. Draco had proven herself to be a real Slytherin, for she had been sneaking around for years, following her father´s orders yet sabotaging his plans all the same, stealing information for Dumbledore.

Slytherins, however, were also proud of being smart. She had carefully built a neutral position for herself, never helping the Light side too much, to avoid being suspicious. She was only buying time, she often told herself, just until she was old enough to get away undetected.

Her father´s "requests" had become more and more demanding as the years passed.

Barty Crouch, Jr. had been her responsibility, it had been her job to see him out of Azkaban and make sure he wasn´t found out by school authorities, yet…

That bastard had been a part of the plot that killed Cedric, so she had acted on instinct to protect Potter from the same fate.

Lucius was going to chop her in pieces and feed her to the werewolves.

Crap.

Draco looked up to find Granger and Weasley confusedly frowning at her, then at each other, then at her again. She had spoken out loud.

She sighed, clutching at her head, suddenly feeling very tired.

"Why I did it is none of your business" Draco spoke slowly, as if she were speaking to a very small child, or a very stupid person ". Now bugger off to Potter. He looked worse than usual, and that´s saying something"

Turning around, she walked away, leaving two dumfounded Gryffindors behind. She walked to the dungeons fast, squeezing between the students that appeared to have been glued together at some point in the afternoon.

Slytherin common room was full of people. Not that Draco noticed, of course. Cedric had told her many times that she was a "follow the carrot" sort of person, and she thought that maybe he had been right, because as soon as she got in she located the big couch closer to the fire and went straight for it, landing on her stomach face-first.

There were things she had to think about, stuff just waiting to be attended to…

For now, Draco just imagined Cedric´s voice whispering sweet nothings in her ear and tried to fall asleep.

* * *

"_You should take a photograph, Mr. Diggory. They last longer"_

_Cedric froze. The voice caressed the back of his neck like icy fingers of sarcasm, digging sharp nails on the sensitive skin of his ears, spreading poisonous annoyance that sent dread coursing through his body at the speed of light. Two sentences, ten words, and he knew he was screwed. The paralyzing fear gave way to the acceptance that came from knowing the end was near._

_Absently, he wondered what, exactly, happened to the unfortunate souls caught staring shamelessly at Professor Snape´s favorite student. _

_Cedric swallowed, scrambling for something to say. He opened his mouth, but no words came out, and he watched in helpless horror as the Professor´s Eyebrow of Evil Mock rose to unimaginable heights._

"_A fine impersonation of a fish out of the water, Mr. Diggory," Snape enunciated every word clearly for everyone to hear, earning a few giggles around the table "but I must remind you: you are in detention. Ten points from Hufflepuff for your wandering mind" he paused "and eyes" _

_The last he added in a lower voice, so that the others wouldn´t hear. Considering Cedric acceptably intimidated, Snape left to terrorize other unsuspecting victims._

_The third Sunday of every month was Recollection day; the day Professor Snape took his least favorite students out to the lake looking for dead fish and, as a bonus, back to the dungeons for the extremely disgusting task of picking out red maggots from the rotting insides of fish corpses. _

_But those weren´t the reasons Recollection day was dreaded by every student unlucky enough to attend to it._

_Touching dead fish and collecting maggots was nothing when compared to the revolting experience of squishing live maggots until their insides came out of their mouths. This particular task was reserved only to the most loathed students, and also the ones stupid enough to be placed in detention on dates near the general vicinity of the third Sunday of every month._

_This Sunday, first Recollection day of the year, Cedric was one of them. This was the reason he found himself in his current predicament._

_Across the table, showing a couple of grossed out third year Ravenclaws the proper way to squish a larva's intestines out, with her hair tied in a practical ponytail and completely oblivious to what had just happened, sat his new obsession: Draco Malfoy. _

_Malfoy, resident Potions genius, was Snape´s assistant in every extra-curricular Potions activity held, no matter how gross. She took up the task of making sure everyone did what they had to do relatively well by insulting and mocking them, but in a good natured and less Snape-like way that made them feel more at ease with their situation. She joked and made the first years giggle, and the air in the dungeons was considerably more breathable when Malfoy was there to appease Snape after Longbottom spilled maggot insides all-over his robes. _

_Pulling on his rubber gloves, Cedric sighed and picked up another maggot to eviscerate. _

_Upon returning to Hogwarts for the last time, Cedric was surprised to realize he had… something for Malfoy. Something that resembled a crush. _

_Malfoy was a bitch. She was an annoying, arrogant bitch. He saw proof to that every day, but still… She was pretty, of course. Beautiful, even, in a weird, pointy way, but she was mean and cruel, and something told him a good guy like him shouldn´t like someone like Malfoy. _

_Another something told him he already did._

"_I didn´t know we´d also collected invisible water worms" an amused voice said near his ear. _

_In the space of only a few seconds, Cedric became aware of several things. _

_First of all, his thumb and index finger were poised to squish a maggot, but no maggot was in sight. _

_It appeared that his red larva had sensed his distraction, taking it as a chance for freedom, and made a wild break for it, sliding furiously to the table edge and landing ungracefully on the floor. It´s joy, however, was short lived, for it had met a sudden end under the foot of a passing-by first year. _

_Said first year was doing the "Ewe, ewe, it touched me" dance of disgust, while professor Snape kindly informed her that she was an idiot, since she had been touching them for hours. With her hands._

_Last, but not least, Malfoy was leaning next to him on the table, looking amused._

"_I would watch what I´m doing, if I were you, unless you want professor Snape to throw chalk at you" she was looking at the small chaos created by a lone runaway maggot, smiling fondly ". He´s got deadly aim"_

_Later that night, Cedric would wonder what, exactly, had made him speak such sudden words. Perhaps it had been simple curiosity for the answer, or the fact that she had saved him from Death Eaters. Maybe it had been because she was beautiful and enjoyed making children laugh, or because she was fierce and liked fist fights. Maybe it had been everything or, perhaps, nothing at all, but it didn´t matter._

_He didn´t know if it was Ancient Magic, or sheer sudden stupidity, but something made him ask:_

"_Will you go out with me?"_

_Grey eyes widened and a blond ponytail cut through the air when she whipped her head around to look at him. _

"_Are you sure?"_

_That was the strangest comeback he´d ever heard._

"_Err… yes" _

_Cedric bit the inside of his cheek, he couldn´t back off now, and stared unblinkingly at her calculating face. _

_She must have seen something she liked, because she grinned._

"_Okay" she said brightly", but don´t say I didn´t give you an out"_

* * *

"Shhh, you are going to wake her up!"

"But I´ve been moving around all day and she hasn´t…"

"Doesn´t matter!"

"But…"

"No!"

"Would you please stop trying so hard not to wake me?" she said grumpily, not raising from her face down lying position on the couch" You suck at it"

The silence that followed was of the "speechlessly terrified" kind. Draco sighed.

Amateurs.

"Un-fucking-believable" she said, voice muffled by the cushion ". You´ve been in Slytherin for a whole year and you still don´t know how to throw a good comeback. You´re a disgrace. Get the fuck out of my sight" there was a long pause "I don´t hear you running each other over for the stairs"

She didn´t need to repeat it. There was a shared squeal of terror, followed by sounds that resembled closely those of a rabbit ducking for its burrow. By the time Draco raised herself to her elbows, all trace of the two boys had disappeared.

All that remained was Severus´ Reproving Eyebrow. She let her head drop again.

"I would say that your behavior shocks me" he said in that bored/annoyed tone of his ", but it would have been foolish of me to believe an attention whore like you wouldn´t make a pathetic public display of grief"

Ah, Sev. Always so sweet.

"Well, it worked, didn´t it?" Draco muttered "You are here"

A big hand was pressed against the back of her head, burying long, cold fingers in her hair.

"Have you been able to sleep?" his voice was low and soothing, as it always had been on times like this.

"A little"

"You are a terrible liar" Sev reprimanded gently and Draco smiled against the cushion.

"You asked because you wanted me to lie"

"So you have been lying face down on a couch for a whole night and half a day, and you haven´t slept at all" Sev said slowly ". I believe this is a new record. We should call Magical Guinness"

"Sorry, did you say something? I couldn´t hear you over the sound of how awesome I am" Draco informed him sarcastically, earning a low chuckle.

She felt the hand´s angle change when Severus sat down on the couch´s arm. She could picture him perching in that awkward, stiff way he had, like he was never really comfortable and was only waiting for the right time to flee.

They stayed in companionable silence for a while, drinking in the fire´s warmth.

"I know it's too soon" Sev whispered, trying not to disrupt the peace ", but you need to start thinking about the future. I won´t be at the Cottage this summer, and I don´t think you´ll be welcome at the Manor now that you basically apprehended Crouch on your own, which was a ridiculously stupid thing to do, Draco"

Draco sighed "You don´t need to tell me that", there was a pause "I´ve been thinking about it… I know what I want, now, but… I don´t know what to do about it yet"

"Decide" Severus stood up, removing his fingers from her hair ", and let me know. I shall help and advice you to the best of my ability" he paused and Draco raised her head to look at him. His face was masked carefully so that every emotion he could have been feeling was impossible to see "There´s someone looking for you in the hallway"

He was away and out the door in a flourish of black robes. Draco sighed, getting up and wondering who the mysterious visitor was as she made the slow way to the common room exit. She opened the door, and froze.

There weren´t many moments in her life Draco had known, as they happened, she would always remember.

The moment she flew a broom for the first time; the moment her sister said her name for the first time; the moment Cedric asked her out; the moment she met her friends. They were all happy moments, for she also kept a list of all the moments she would spend the rest of her life trying to forget.

The moment she saw Amos Diggory, tired and broken, leaning on the wall outside of her common room, she knew that was a moment she would force herself to always remember, for it was a reminder of what she had lost, of what death can do those it touches but doesn´t take.

looked up and tried to muster a smile, failing miserably. She wanted to tell him it was alright. Cedric had died the night before; there was no need to pretend.

"Hello, Draco" he said softly. His eyes were red rimmed and had dark circles around them. Absently, Draco wondered what she looked like "I just wanted to let you know that the…funeral… will be next Sunday"

"_Next Sunday"_ was the third Sunday of that month. Recollection day. Someone somewhere was laughing at her.

"My wife and I want you to come" Mr. Diggory was looking at the floor again, but he raised his head and met her eyes straight on when he said "He would have wanted that. Cedric loved you, and I´m glad… I´m so glad he at least got to know what that is"

He looked down again. Draco felt like she should say something enlightening, something deep and powerful that would make this man feel better.

This man, Cedric´s father. This man, who had overcome every prejudice he had about Draco and her family and given her a chance, just because his son had loved her. And even now he treated her as someone worthwhile, because she´d loved his son.

Because she still loved his son.

Cedric wouldn´t care, he was gone, now, but if it made his parents feel better…

"I´ll be there" Draco said. She hated funerals but, for this man, she´d go. Mr. Diggory looked at her with heartbreaking gratitude and they talked about inconsequential matters until he left.

Most people forgot, or never believed, that Slytherin was the House of true friends. During her entire stay at Hogwarts, Draco was never allowed to think otherwise.

Pansy stood beside her during the burial, holding her hand, her presence a solid reminder that she was not alone. They walked around the cemetery for hours, talking about everything, about nothing, about anything that came to mind, with the ease of two people used to being the other´s second nature.

They came back to Hogwarts late at night and headed straight for the fourth year boy´s dorm room. Greg and Vincent took out six bottles of fire whiskey from the Emergency Stash, and Blaise and Theo argued for half an hour over what was the best background music to get wasted.

They sat around for hours, drinking, raising their bottles to Cedric, because he was great; to Death, because it was always better to be on good terms with it; to Light magic, because eventually it was going to win; to Hogwarts, because it had taken them away from their parents; to Snape, because his eyebrows had a language of their own; to Dumbledore, because he was cool; to his Beard, because it was _cooler_; to books, because everything was in them; and to Magi Cliffsnotes, because everything _important_ was in them.

To brooms, because you couldn´t play Quidditch without them; to Quidditch, because, dude, _Quidditch_; to music, because it was magical; to Lennon and McCartney, because they were the only Muggles that could do magic; to Harrison, because he came pretty close; and to Ringo, because everyone always forgot about him.

It was generally accepted that the time had come to go to bed when Theo passed out. They weren´t little anymore, so they had to transfigure to beds together to fit comfortably, and Greg and Vince occupied most of the space so, after some wiggling around, they settled down for the night, feeling safe in the company of friends.

Peter Pettigrew… the rat that had betrayed the Potters. If Wormtail had been there, then so had the others. She had seen Sev double over in pain, clutching at his arm, towards the end of the Last Task.

Voldemort had called all of his followers to watch him kill his sworn enemy.

_Kill the spare…_

She could almost imagine that hateful, raspy voice, giving out the order that ended Cedric´s life.

Lucius had been there. He had probably laughed.

She had been foolish to think she only had to lie low until she turned seventeen and then run away, foolish to think that surviving would be enough, that everything would work itself out. The bastard had killed Cedric, and he could kill everyone she loved just as easily.

Something had to be done. It would be hard, that was for sure. She needed a good plan, but she wasn´t a Slytherin for nothing. She would come up with something.

Running away was not an option anymore.

With that thought in mind, she snuggled up to Blaise and fell asleep.

* * *

"_If you let that dragon eat you, I will revive you, beat you to death and, then, I am going to break up with you. Do you understand?"_

_Cedric sighed. He really should have known better than to expect any kind of support from his girlfriend. _

_They had been dating for three months now and Draco still treated him no better than she treated her Slytherins._

"_Understood"_

_They were in the Champion´s tent, waiting for Dumbledore to call his name. Draco seemed as calm as usual, but she was twirling her braid between her fingers nervously. When she caught herself doing it, she scowled and looked at him, annoyed._

"_Look at what you make me do" still scowling, Draco stood on her tip-toes and kissed him, hard. She was a lot shorter than he was, and she had to hold on to his neck to keep balance, so it should have been awkward but, surprisingly, it wasn´t. _

_It felt _right.

_That was the first time Cedric began to suspect he had something more than a simple crush for Draco Malfoy._

_During the entirety of the First Task, Draco observed him from the stands. He didn´t see her, of course. He was busy fighting the dragon, but all along he could feel those penetrating grey eyes on him, letting him know that, without a question, she would remain true to her word. _

"_I saw you staring at Cho Chang" she said, narrowing her eyes while she healed the scratches on his face._

_Here we go, he thought. At a crucial moment of the fight, Cho´s gasp had stolen Cedric´s concentration from the dragon and given it an opening to attack. _

_If Cedric were dating any other girl, she would have probably cried with relief to see him safe and he would have probably had to reassure her that he was alright and smile and comfort her. As it was, he was dating Draco Malfoy, and he spent the whole afternoon trying to convince her that no, he didn´t like Cho Chang, yes, he was sorry for worrying her and no, please, don´t throw the egg at me!_

_He wouldn´t have had it any other way. _

_It downed on him completely that what he felt was love when he saw Draco´s blond hair floating in the water of the Black Lake, glistening when it caught light. That was the treasure._

"_Merlin´s beard, I´ve gotten so soft" Draco lamented for the thousandth time, combing her hair again "There was a time when I would have skinned anyone who dared come close to my hair. With my teeth"_

"_Oh, Draco, stop whining! He said he´s sorry" Pansy looked like she had perfected the Exasperated-yet-fond look Cedric had been resorting to so much lately when dealing with Draco". Besides, you would have never done that" _

"_Well, not with my teeth. With a knife. Perhaps with my teeth" she seemed unsure"It depends on the context"_

_She had been listing all the algae specimens she had found caught in her hair for the past two hours, ever since Cedric had fished her out of the lake. They were sitting comfortably by the fireside in Slytherin common room, were everything was casted in a faint green glow. _

_He had gotten along with Draco´s friends pretty quickly. They had been uncertain, at first, but they had warmed up to him soon enough. Pansy, in particular, was his go-to-girl when dealing with Draco turned out to be harder than he´d expected. _

_The black haired girl had always been Draco´s sidekick when it came to public insult hurling and had a reputation of being nasty and obnoxious. Said reputation, much like Draco´s, wasn´t entirely wrong. She did have a nasty attitude, but she was also very funny and a great story teller, product of the hours she spent reading every novel she could get her hands on. _

_Cedric was certain that most of the Slytherins would have been happy in Ravenclaw, and he told Draco so. She smirked mischievously, leaning back on her overstuffed chair, finally letting go of the hair-algae matter. _

_Thank you, Merlin, thought Cedric._

"_Nah, we´re many things, you know, but we are not boring" she curled her fingers around her eyes, simulating glasses, turned her nose up and spoke in nasal tones "Ooohhhh, I´m a Ravenclaw. I mean, how much smarter can I be? Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit!"_

"_They are not all like that" Cedric defended, trying not to laugh ". Some of them are nice"_

"_Maybe to you" Pansy told him, still laughing". Not to us. Every time I take a book out from the library, the ugly Patil sister looks at me like I have no right to touch it"_

"_A Madame Pince on the making, that one" Draco said, picking up a book from the floor, frowning". Though she lacks the vulture-like aura our dear librarian has about herself"_

"_The ugly… you mean Padma?" Cedric had a hard time relating Padma Patil with the word ugly_

"_In comparison to Parvati, she is" Pansy paused "Although, in comparison to Parvati, everyone is"_

"_They look the same to me" Cedric said, frowning. The girls stared at him as if he´d grown a tail and dog ears to match, then Pansy´s face broke into a nasty smirk._

"_Aww… is there anything in the world more revolting than a man in love?" she asked, loud enough for the whole room to hear, and ducked when Cedric threw her a cushion. Draco laughed._

_Scratch everything he´d said about nice. Slytherins were evil._

_He took Draco as his date to the Yule Ball. _

_She wore a dark blue dress with grey butterflies all over it and a smile on her face. His friends looked at him with resigned acceptance when they saw them together; like they knew he had been converted to the Dark Side of the force and nothing could be done about it._

_He didn´t care._

_Draco made him dance with the Slytherins for a while and they taught him the secret choreographies, laughingly repeating "One of us! One of us!" as they danced around him. It became evident that someone had spiked the punch when Pansy jumped to the stage and made out with the band singer._

_It also became evident that the guy was a pedophile when he started kissing back._

_He and Draco took Pansy back to her bedroom and Draco, considering her obligations as a friend satisfyingly attended to, thought it would be nice to watch the stars from Astronomy Tower. _

_They had been cuddling together underneath the same blanket for an hour or two when Cedric felt the need to let his feelings out in the open. _

"_I think I might be in love with you" _

_Draco, to her credit, didn´t even look away from the night skies before answering._

"_That´s good news, I should think" she said, as if she were discussing the weather ", because I think I might love you back"_

_Life was good._

* * *

_Draco wasn´t your average girlfriend. _

_She was loud and childish, and asked the strangest questions, like: if you died and reincarnated, what inanimate object would you be? _

_She also liked starting fights with anyone she came across, proudly claiming she could annoy rocks if she really wanted to, and she would say anything she thought was funny, not caring if it was offensive or insulting. _

_She almost had a heart attack when Cedric was chosen as a Champion, and nearly clawed his eyes out when she thought he´d been staring at Cho Chang, but she healed the scratches he´d gotten after fighting the dragon and made him promise to come back before he entered the maze._

_Draco had nightmares she wouldn´t talk about and drank her weight in fire whiskey to forget about them. Looking into her stormy grey eyes, knowing she was scared but also determined not to show it, Cedric promised he would return._

_Later that night, helping Harry Potter fight the Dark lord and knowing he would be another name Draco spoke when she had bad dreams, Cedric thought about his seventh year at Hogwarts, spent with the one girl he knew was the love of his life. He asked Harry to tell her that, to tell her that he loved her, and felt a kind of sadness he´d never felt before, the sadness of knowing Draco would never know exactly how much._

"_To be able to express how much you love is to love, but little" Draco had told him once, grey eyes twinkling in the fire-lit Hufflepuff common room, and Cedric thought that was enough._

"…but don´t say I didn´t give you an out"

_He knew now he would have never taken it._

_Thinking of dragons and good choices, Cedric moved on, uncaring of the destination._

_Life had been good._

* * *

"…remember Cedric Diggory."

Dumbledore´s speech had been heartfelt, Draco knew, and his eyes had lost their twinkle. He´d addressed them all calmly, explaining on easy terms the truth everyone should have known from the start, the truth the Ministry was trying desperately to cover. Cedric´s death hadn´t been an accident.

Voldemort was back, and the time to choose had come.

Draco stood up, her chair making a loud sound when it was pushed back. Every eye in the Great Hall turned to her, but she didn´t care. She strode out without a glance on anyone´s direction.

A week had passed since Cedric´s death.

According to the Minister of Magic, it had all been an ugly accident. Potter was a victim of post-traumatic stress and his words could not be taken seriously: Lord Voldemort was as dead as he had been for the past fifteen years.

As if.

Draco knew her father had something to do with that. The man owned half the Ministry, and had probably bullied the other half into submission to make them spill such filthy lies. Fudge was only looking for a way to save face, and Lucius had given him the perfect getaway: blame it on the Boy Who Lived´s subconscious playing tricks on him.

Rita Skeeter had probably eaten that up with a spoon.

Her feet took her straight to her bedroom. Draco looked around, feeling lost, confused and angry, so angry… She almost didn´t notice she´d picked up the bedside lamp and thrown it against the wall until she´d seen it in pieces, littering the floor.

Draco had never been so happy that Slytherin fourth year girls got separate bedrooms.

Since there was no bedside lamp, she decided there was no use for a bedside table, so she picked up the three legged piece of furniture her mother had given to her and smashed it against the wall once, twice, three times, until it too was in pieces.

The bedside table was quickly followed by the wardrobe, the four-poster bed, the curtains and the chairs she kept by the window. She wasn´t very sure how long it took her to notice that the air was very cold, and the pieces of furniture she had been throwing across the air had been picking themselves back and smashing against the walls on their own, time and time again, until they were reduced to mere splinters.

It had been very long since the last time she had lost control over her magic so completely.

"Finite incantatem!" she shouted. All furniture collective suicide attempts stopped.

Draco fell to her knees, covered her face with her hands, and cried. She knew Dumbledore was probably giving Potter a comforting chat about sacrifice and acceptance, somewhere in another part of the castle, where no student ever resorted to room trashing or alcohol to get over their losses. Even when Cedric had died, Potter had just sat there in misery, unmoving, waiting for comfort to come.

But Draco was a Slytherin, and things didn´t go that way for Slytherins.

She stood up, wiping her face angrily with her sleeves, when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in" she commanded, trying to look like she wasn´t standing in a room she had trashed only moments before. The door opened, and there stood her friends.

Pansy was in the front, as usual, with Blaise and Theo guarding her sides, and Vincent and Greg guarding their backs. They all had similar expressions of surprise on their faces upon seeing the state of her bedroom and that, combined with the platoon-like group formation they had adopted, made them look like they were a recognition team that had stumbled upon the enemy lines.

Theo was the first to recover.

"I love what you´ve done with the place" he said, his voice lacking its usual cheer

"I know" she smiled softly ". The old Décor wasn´t… chaotic enough. But I know you didn´t come here to admire the wall paper"

Pansy spoke then, slowly, like she needed to be reassured.

"We want to know what you are going to do" she seemed scared, like she was afraid of what Draco was going to say.

"The million dollar question" Draco said softly and her friends looked confused. She realized then they could not possibly know what that meant ". Nevermind" she motioned them to come in" This conversation will require seating arrangements, I should think"

Pulling together some pieces of wood she assumed had been the skeleton-bed and some torn blankets; she managed to transfigure two big, comfortable looking couches and sat on one, wiggling experimentally. When it didn´t disintegrate, the others followed gave them a try.

"There´s no escaping now" Blaise said, looking down"I know we decided to wait it out for a while, ´till we´re old enough to leave untraced, but… he´s back. For real, now. There´s no time to waste anymore"

"There never was, really" Theo had cleared a space on the ground and sat down crossed-legged "We were just being childish and denying everything. We´ve known You-Know-Who´s alive for years and we didn´t do anything…"

"There wasn´t anything we could do!" Pansy´s big black eyes were shining with angry tears she wouldn´t spill "We stuck to the plan, we did what we had to do… to survive! You know people don´t like us. They wouldn´t have listened to us if we´d tried to warn them"

"There´s no point in discussing that now" Blaise said tiredly, not lifting his eyes from the floor", it´s too late."

"´sides, Potter told them and they´re making him sound like a loony" Greg mused out loud. Vincent grunted in agreement.

Theo was lying on his back on the floor with his eyes closed, tired enough not to care about the pieces of wood and glass digging into his back.

"What should we do now, I wonder?" he asked finally, breaking the silence "I mean, it´s not like we can go ´round pretending we don´t have a care in the world. Eventually, they are going to call us back. I don´t like muggles, but I don´t think I would enjoy blowing them up left and right"

"I don´t wanna be under You-Know-Who´s orders…" Vincent spoke for the first time" ,not after everything he´s done. He killed my brother, you know, I haven´t forgotten, and I won´t pretend I have"

As a general rule, they didn´t talk about that, not even when they were drunk, but…Vincent did have a point.

They couldn´t serve that snake of a man.

"So Draco… I think it´s up to you" he said slowly

"After Sean was killed, I promised I would follow your lead" Theo started shakily" I´ve done it so far and… I won´t back off now" he paused, adding". I haven´t forgotten, either"

They looked at Draco, seeking for guidance, guidance she wasn´t sure she could give, and waited. She looked back, wondering what she should say. Wondering if, when she finally did say something, they would feel let down.

She knew what had to be done. That was enough.

It had to be.

Draco spoke.

"I haven´t forgotten, either, guys. I never forgot, and I never will. I thought that, perhaps, if we played our cards right, we´d be able to escape and leave the rest to Dumbledore and Potter. That way, I wouldn´t have to fight again. I thought surviving would be enough"

She had started softly, anger rising with every word, anger at herself for being so stupid and, now, she couldn´t bring herself to stop speaking.

" Now Cedric is dead, and I don´t feel like running away anymore"

They were giving her their full attention now, Theo had even sat up, so Draco took the chance to look at them in the eye.

"I know now I won´t find peace until I see Voldemort dead. I don´t want an out anymore: I want revenge. I want justice and, most of all, I want to know that what was done to my sister, and to your brothers as well, is never done to anyone again. It will be hard" she continued after a pause", very hard. We will have to win over the other Slytherins, first, to try and make them stay away from the Death Eaters. Soon our parents will want to make us take the Mark… we´ll have to find a way to put that off for as long as we can. You´ll probably have to leave your homes and…" she trailed off. _Not yet, _she thought,_ first they have to choose whether we are friends or foes._

She breathed deeply through her nose, eyes closing "I know you all feel guilty about… what happened that night. I do, too, but guilt is not a good enough reason to make a desicion that might put an end to your lives" opening her eyes, she smiled at them" You are my best friends. I can always count on you, and you are great people. You are much better than you give yourselves credit for, sometimes. I won´t blame you if you don´t want to follow me, but… but I know no one wants to be the one that walked away"

Draco stood up, motioning for them to do the same.

"I want you to leave, now, and think about what I´ve told you. Think well, before you decide, because once you do there is no turning back. If you want to follow me, come back tonight" she paused, adding". If not… well, I wish you a good life. Now fuck off! I have a war zone to tidy up"

One by one, they left, each departure leaving the room more desolate. Whatever they chose would be correct, she couldn´t ask them to see things the way she did, not when they had so much to lose. Once, not too long ago, she would have manipulated them into what she needed them to be, but she didn´t have it in her to do that anymore.

Damn Hufflepuff moral code.

"Look at what you make me do" she said to no one in particular, pretending a bronze haired boy was smiling while he shook his head.

Draco sighed and got to work.

The room was relatively less disastrous when three knocks announced that the moment of truth had come.

She opened the door, allowing herself a moment of proud surprise upon seeing that Vincent, Greg, Blaise, Theo and Pansy were standing there, together, looking scared but determined.

They were all there.

"Don´t say I didn´t give you an out" she told them, grinning, and let them in. Blaise rolled his eyes.

"Well, it´s not like we can leave you alone, you idiot" he said, walking in and throwing himself onto the newly repaired bed.

"After all, they breaded for beauty over brains in your family" Pansy added"You would probably run off and get yourself killed under no supervision" she smiled a disgustingly sweet smile when Draco threw her the Death By Dismemberment Glare, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Now that we all agreed on how much of a dumb blonde Draco is, can we please discuss the important matters?" Theo sat on the floor, flanked by Vincent and Greg "What´s up with the spider web on your hair, for example?"

"I am not a dumb blonde!" said Draco indignantly while she ran her fingers through her hair

"And yet you are looking for nonexistent spiders on your white-yellow hair" reasoned Pansy" Sounds like a solid Dumb Blonde case to me"

Draco´s fingers stilled, and she narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"Bitch"

"Whore"

"Girls, girls, you are both pretty!" Blaise interfered, feigning exasperation, while the other three boys laughed "We have serious business to discuss, so stop calling Draco dumb. The poor girl can´t help it"

Draco chose not to dignify that last part with an answer. She did, however, elbow him hard in the stomach by accident when she climbed on the bed.

"Alright, my dear lackeys" she said in a conspiratorial fashion, rubbing her hands together ", we have work to do"

They sat down on the bed and planned.

* * *

**Hello! I would like to thank the one who is reading this (my first fanfic!) for giving my story some of your valuable time. I would also like to tell you that this is the first story I have written entirely in english, since it isn´t my mother language, so any corrections or critics would be appreciated!**

**I have wanted to write a story with a female Draco for a while because I wanted to see what kind of impact the ****character would have on the others and also because I have never read any girl!Draco before. I´m sure there must be some out there, but I have never come across any.**

**This story will be rather long, I think. It will cover the events of the war differently than the books, but I will keep some canon stuff. I created a dark background for Draco and her friends so I thought that her falling in love with Cedric (R.I.P) would show her the way to the light. I intend this to eventually be a Draco/Harry love story, but I like building things slowly, so it will take time. **

**xoxoFiLau**

**P.D. I have no idea if Sal ammoniac would react that way if it concentrated or even if potions would actually "concentrate", I was just fooling around there.**


	2. Chapter 2

"_Lately, I´ve been_

_Living in my head_

_The rest of me is dead._

_I´m dying for truth" _

No Way Back, by Foo Fighters

* * *

"I, Mary, in Friday´s sunlight. In the dying sunlight"

The woman´s name wasn´t Mary, it was Joan, it was Monday, not Friday, and the sun was rising, not falling, so the statement was absolutely incorrect, but she had felt the need to say something solemn, and that had been the first thing that came to mind.

Joan´s insanely high heels´ clicked on the sidewalk, breaking the silence that her words had left behind. There was no one there to answer, after all.

That, on itself, was strange. Usually, people were crowding London´s grey streets by this hour of the morning but, now, there was no one there. Oblivious to this strange situation, Joan walked on.

Her legs felt wobbly from dancing so much at the party, but it was a pleasant kind of unsteadiness, the kind that came after having a good time. The orange sunlight dazzled her, overfilling her dilated pupils, making her see big white balls of light and wish she hadn´t smoked so much weed the night before.

It had been a great party, full of people happy to celebrate admission exams were over and the rest of their lives, for better or for worse, had been decided. Joan´s flat was located only three blocks from the pub the party had been in, but the alcohol made them seem longer. What Joan didn´t know was that, in a moment of inebriated brilliance, she had decided to take a "shortcut" and was currently walking unknowingly in the wrong direction.

This side of town wasn´t particularly bad, but it had a strange kind of darkness about it, the kind that sent a sense of foreboding coursing through one´s veins. Joan, of course, did not notice.

At least not until she heard the scream.

It was high-pitched and pained, the kind of scream someone caught by a bullet would make, but also frightened, terrified. Joan´s mind, suddenly alert, caught on all of these details, while her body froze in place. The horrible sound had come from the big house at the end of the block and, without any brain input, she began running towards it.

It was the biggest house in the block, and also the oldest, with an abandoned air about it, even if the flowers by the window said otherwise. Three stone steps lead to the door, painted in faded green and guarded by two gargoyles that stared at the visitor with a calculating expression on their demonic faces, each of them with a snake tied around its neck, resembling a collar. All in all, the house screamed "HAUNTED", and Joan wondered who in their right mind would want to live there.

The door had been left ajar, and voices were coming from within the house. It was impossible for her to make out the words from outside, so she took a step closer to the door. The bits of common sense she had left told her that she should leave and call the police, because there was nothing she could do, but Joan didn´t listen, inching closer instead.

"… to forgive me, my Lord!" a man, presumably the one whose scream had gotten her here, pleaded" I have only ever served you! Don´t take me away from your side!"

"You have only ever served me?" a scratchy voice asked. It was cold an inhuman, and Joan had never heard any voice like it before" I see. So that is the reason why I have not had a word from you in fourteen years. It wasn´t because you were much too busy swimming in the luxury you gained thanks to me, but because you were serving me by doing it" there was a pause. When the scratchy voice spoke once more, it was colder than ice and dripping with menace". Do you think I am an idiot? Or, perhaps, you think me dumb… or stupid? Tsk, tsk"

There was another pause, filled with the tension created by a predator walking in a deliberately slow fashion and a prey´s terrified whimpers. Joan bit her lip.

"I see everything, my dear maggot. Everything. Crucio!"

A loud, agonized cry, almost inhuman in its intensity, followed that nonsensical word she had never heard before, accompanied by the sound of someone trashing frantically on the wooden floor. Macabre laughter, probably belonging to the scratchy voice, filled the air along with the scream, both sounds twisting and contorting in a horrifying dance.

Terrified, Joan turned to run away but, as soon as she tried to turn, she fell on the stone steps. She tried to get up, but something was holding her ankles in place. With a gasp, Joan saw that the snakes around the gargoyles´ necks were now surrounding both of her ankles, effectively keeping her down. She grabbed one of them and pulled, but the stone reptile didn´t release her, only pulled itself tighter around her delicate skin, cutting the blood circulation to her feet.

Joan grabbed the edge of the lowest step, the one closer to the ground, and tried to pull herself forward. She could feel the pressure applied by the snakes cut through her skin, slowly constricting, pressing down on muscle and, eventually, bone. Joan bit her lip hard not to cry out in pain and kept trying to get away, her long nails breaking from scratching such a hard surface.

"Well, well" a scratchy, cruel voice said from somewhere above her. Joan froze". What do we have here?"

Only after those words had been spoken did Joan realize that the still morning was silent. The agonized screams had stopped; there were no chirping birds or neighbours peeking through their blinds to check who was disturbing the peace. The sky had covered with stormy clouds and the air was heavy with the promise of rain, showing no sign that this morning had been anything but grey from the start. The absolute stillness of it all sent a shiver through Joan´s pained body, while her slowed senses only now let her know that there was no one to call for help, no way to break free, no escaping this.

"A nosey parker"

She had a spare moment for the old saying "curiosity killed the cat" to echo in her ears before pain became her reality.

* * *

Harry woke up covered in sweat, feeling the urgent need to check his ankles for damage. The old white sheets had tangled around him, trapping him in an embrace that had nothing to do with comfort, and it took him some effort to yank them aside, exposing his shivering body to the cold morning air. He grabbed the edge of his sleeping pants and pulled them up to his knees, inspecting his ankles and feet carefully for scratches or bruises, but the white skin was unhurt.

It had only been a nightmare.

Harry lay back down and pressed his hands against his closed eyes. His frightened heart was racing madly, almost as if it wanted to break out of his chest and go into hiding, and he was panting. The worn cotton sheets felt like sand-paper against his feverish skin and that scar on his forehead was burning painfully, as if someone were putting off cigarettes on it, just like it did after every one of these nightmares.

By now, he already knew what that meant. Voldemort´s strength was increasing and, with it, so were his late night activities. Because his life wasn´t sufficiently perturbed, Harry got a front-line seat to this grotesque events.

Lately, the nightmares had become more and more vivid, and Harry knew now that they were most likely the final moments of the people unlucky enough to cross paths with the Dark Lord.

Harry looked over to the small window in his room, seeing that, just like in the nightmare, the sky was grey, and almost no light came in. He couldn´t help but wonder what had happened to the woman in the high heels, couldn´t help but feel the need to go out looking for her. But he´d been having nightmares like these since school year´s end, since Cedric had died, and many times he´d gone out to the streets to look for the people he knew were somewhere out there, coming back to the Dursleys´ hours later, empty handed and defeated.

Hedwig hooted reprovingly from her cage next to the window, letting Harry know exactly what she thought of him depressing over nightmares and also, please, oh, please can I go out now? Harry got up, smiling, and walked over to the snowy owl, who started nipping gently at his fingers when she got out of her prison. The open window was her target and, as soon as her gratitude was satisfyingly expressed, she flew gracefully to it, squeezing out, for the window was barely big enough for her to come through.

With a sigh, Harry walked to the window and watched her go, wishing, as he usually did, that he could be as free as his faithful feathered companion. He knew that, someday, he would be free; free to leave his aunt and uncle and live as he pleased, do as he liked and be able to breathe the outside air whenever he wanted, for as long as he wanted. He knew that, but, just as once, not so long ago, he had thought he would never leave the cupboard or have friends, Harry thought, as Hedwig flew away and the small room´s walls seemed to close in on him, that he would never leave this place.

"Harry!" Aunt Petunia´s annoying howl travelled all the way from down stairs to stir him conveniently away from his dark thoughts" Come down here, you ungrateful boy! It´s time for breakfast!"

Harry sighed once more as he walked to his trunk, fishing out a rumpled but clean shirt with practiced ease from the mess of clothing, yellowed pieces of half written parchment and empty ink pots. His trousers, which were usually kept where they fell, had spent the night lying over his shoes at the foot of the bed. Harry sat down on the mattress to put them on, taking a moment to check his still itching ankles.

The woman in the dream could not possibly be much older than him, and now she was probably already dead at one of Voldemort´s whims. How many people would have to die before he was defeated? And, more importantly, how was Harry going to do it?

Before, it had seemed so simple… The dark lord had been nothing but a lone menace, dark and scary, but faraway, a cloaked figure drinking unicorn blood in the Forbidden Forest. Even though Dumbledore always spoke about him, a warning clear in his words, about his nightmarish antics and dark powers, Voldemort had been nothing but that: a nightmare that haunted good people, but could never really touch them.

After the Triwizard Tournament, after Harry had seen what Dark magicians could do, he had realized that the people around him, good people, people like Cedric, would slowly disappear, as long as he didn´t get rid of Voldemort.

Harry´s heart constricted painfully at the thought of Cedric, and he expertly manoeuvred his train of thought away from there. It was still much too soon to be thinking of Cedric. Besides, thoughts of Cedric would lead directly to thoughts of Malfoy, and it was definitely much too soon to think about that.

"_Anything you want, baby" _

Harry blushed furiously at the memory, Malfoy´s mocking eyes twinkling in the torch lit hallway a vivid image in his mind´s eye.

"Bloody Malfoy" he muttered with feeling, rubbing his face with his hands and getting up from the bed. Pulling on the latest sweater Mrs. Weasley had made for him, he got out of the room and headed towards the stairs.

Malfoy had saved him; there was no doubting that, Harry thought as he went down the stairs, taking two steps at the time. But why had she? Or, more importantly, how the hell had she known he needed saving? She´d said she wasn´t with Voldemort, but… There was no way to be certain of that. For all Harry knew, it might have been an act. Her trembling hands, her pained eyes, the way she´d leaned down to kiss Cedric´s lips for the last time.

Maybe it had been an impression, like the ones he always saw her do from Gryffindor table at breakfast. _Grief stricken girl trying desperately not to cry over dead boyfriend._

Malfoy´s pale face, horrified yet disbelieving, looking down at Cedric´s body came to mind, then, and Harry knew no one could be such a good actress.

"Took you long enough, boy" uncle Vernon´s gruff tones got him back to the real world like a bucket of cold water. Even after all these years, he still could not shake off the irrational fear he felt for the man". Well, what are you looking at? Go make breakfast"

Only after Uncle Vernon´s piggy eyes returned to the paper did Harry turn around and started fishing through the kitchen cabinets for something to make breakfast with.

Sometimes, it was easy to see why he felt like he´d always be trapped in Privet Drive. Taking care of house hold chores and cooking meals had always been his everyday activity since he´d been old enough to reach the knives on the kitchen table, and it was all so ordinary, so normal, so… not magical. Dumbledore and Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione, Snape and Malfoy, they were so far away from him while he was here that sometimes he had to wonder if they´d ever been real.

The days were long when spent in Little Whinging. There was never anything interesting happening, nothing to do, no pretty girls or any sort of entertaining show on TV, if he was ever allowed to watch it. The air was always heavy with the scent of someone cooking some tasteless, but very smelly, food in their backyard, and even the birds sang the same songs over and over, perched on the same branches in the same trees, everyday.

This summer had been dragging on for what seemed like years, but it had only been a month, so there was still a long time to go before September 1st. Until then, he had Ron and Hermione´s letters to keep him company.

When he finished serving breakfast, Harry piled up some sandwiches on a plate and went back to his room, closing the door behind him. He fished out some parchment and a quill from his trunk and snapped it closed, settling the items on the closed lid. He sat down crossed legged on floor and picked up a sandwich to munch on while he answered Hermione's latest update on the abuse of house elves, settling his plate next to him on the floor.

Harry was aware, and had been informed, of the fact that he was a terrible letter writer, but he did his best anyway. He told Hermione all of the boring things he´d done in the least boring way possible which was, he had to admit it, not much better; of the movies he´d watched, which weren´t many, and also of the books he´d read, which were always the same books, since he hadn´t brought anything new with him this summer.

He had not, however, told her, or Ron, about the dreams. They knew he had them, but he didn´t want them to think he was going insane because they were coming so often. They didn´t need to know that.

By the time Hedwig´s tapping on the window became impatient and judging by the angle and extension in which his drool had messed up the words written on the parchment, Harry had been sleeping with his mouth open and the side of his face pressed to his now ruined letter for about two hours.

"Hedwig. You´re back" he slurred sleepily, straightening his ink stained glasses". I´m coming"

Not without difficulty, he got up from his uncomfortable position on the ground and walked to the window, stepping on his forgotten, half eaten plate of sandwiches

"Brilliant" he muttered, looking at the bread and cheese mess on the floor, deciding to ignore it for the time being. It was probably only midday, but the sky was black with angry clouds and thick fog obscured everything in sight. Harry opened the window and let his snowy owl in. She flew straight to the chair closest to the door, her favourite, presumably because it´s back resembled a tree branch rather closely, and perched on it, showing Harry her right foot. A small, rolled up piece of parchment was tied to it with a black ribbon.

Harry went to her, scratching her feathered head while she gently nipped at his fingers, and carefully untied the note from her clawed foot. He unrolled it, smiling at the penmanship, and went to search the sandwich mess for something still intact. A piece of bread had been left mostly unscathed, so he gave it to Hedwig, and while she happily tucked in, Harry began to read.

_Dear Harry,_

_Your knight in shining armour has arrived at last. Forgive me for taking so long. Wait for me under the streetlamp at the corner, and bring Hedwig with you. Dumbledore´s orders. Don´t worry about your luggage, we´ll take care of it later._

_Padfoot_

_P.S. I farted on this paper._

_P.P.S. I cannot believe I just wrote that._

Harry rolled the short note up again, smiling over that last bit.

They had come up with that P.S. the year before as a joke: a password they would use if the need should arise to make sure the other was who he said he was, not really thinking that it would ever be necessary. Now that Voldemort was back, they would take any assurance they could get their hands on, no matter how embarrassing.

They would have to come up with a better one, though.

Smiling, Harry began throwing the few things he´d taken out of his trunk back in, not bothering to fold his clothes or close his books. The only one he treated with something akin to respect was his old, worn copy of "Quidditch through the Ages", which was reverently placed on top of the pile. When he was finished, he sat on the chair Hedwig was perched on and petted her head.

"Looks like things aren´t going to be so boring anymore" Harry told her. Puffing up her feathers, Hedwig seemed to agree.

* * *

Malfoy Manor early in the morning, shadowed by heavy fog, with no lights on and seemingly charged with Dark magic, was not the most welcoming sight Severus had ever seen, but it was the only one that he expected.

One month, that had been the deal.

"_I´ll just go. If you have no news from me in a month, come get me" _Draco had said every word carefully but finally, and no matter how much Severus argued she just went back to that skeleton agreement, as if her own life wasn´t at stake.

A month had passed and Severus, certain now that ten years had been severed from his life supply, was dreading what awaited him inside the walls of the Manor. The horseless carriage came to take him across the grounds to the front door without him calling for it, so he got in and watched how the grey scenery passed him by through the circular window.

Draco had come to his office the night before the end of school year and told him that she had a plan, but could not comment on it, that she had to do something first, but she could not tell him, and that she was going back to the Manor. Alone.

They had argued for hours, hurling pros and cons to each other across the small office, their voices bouncing off the walls, which had been carefully enchanted not to let sound escape. Grudgingly, Severus had given in, agreeing to Draco´s terms. His goddaughter was many things, but she was not stupid, even if sometimes she was capable of idiocy worthy of a Gryffindor. He just hoped this was not one of those times.

The carriage came to an abrupt stop before the stone steps that led to the imposing silver door, carved in with designs of snakes and dragons entwined with emeralds and all manner of precious stones, collected from all around the world by generations and generations of Malfoys. The walk on to the steps was, as everything else, from the walls to the macabre statues in the gardens, solid, cold grey stone, with no flowers or trees around to make it look less grave. As a teacher, Severus had seen what environment could do to a child, and he was very glad his goddaughter hadn´t turned out wrong. Well, not completely.

An open mouthed crystal snake observed the visitor with its chilly emerald eyes, serving as a judge over who would have the privilege of meeting it´s Masters and Mistresses since the first pillars of Malfoy Manor had been erected. Apparently, it thought him worthy enough, because it´s eyes shone brighter and the door swung open, revealing the dark planes and shadows of the ancestral mansion.

The first time he had entered it, Severus had felt intimidated by the white marble walls, the light green tiles covering the floor and the enormous crystal chandelier, magically suspended a few feet below the high ceiling. It emitted a pale white light that made everything, and everyone, glow in a ghost like manner. Perpetually half lit and cold, the Manor would have been found lacking in warmth and comfort by any foreigner but, in there, the colourless Malfoys were in their element, content in a house so cold that it seemed to reflect their very personalities.

As fast as he could, Severus walked across the lobby to the wide marble staircase that led to the upper floors, knowing precisely where to go. The hallway leading to the West wing had large windows on both sides, giving the passerby a panoramic view of the extensive grounds, darkened with fog, melting together with the grey sky, but he didn´t spare a single glance sideways, focusing entirely on the wall located at the other end.

The black marble wall, seemingly impenetrable at first glance, melted down as Severus walked closer, revealing the vast library behind it. The books floated with no apparent support system, some of them days new, some others centuries old, patiently waiting for someone to call their names to be of utility once more.

"De Omnibus Dubitandum" he said clearly. A worn black book, the first book to inhabit this library and the largest one, as big as a person, floated all the way to where he was, positioning it´s massive leather bound body before him. It opened, showing him it´s blank, questioning pages and, as Severus walked closer, it began emitting a bright white light.

By the time Severus could open his eyes once more, he was standing in the middle of a darkened room he recognized as Lucius´ study. It was a large room, illuminated only by the lit fire place, furnished with beautifully crafted wooden chairs and a white marble desk, overflowing with rolls of parchment and maps. The walls were staked from floor to ceiling with black books, the darkness of the covers giving away their content, and the floor was covered with square black and white tiles, intercalated to simulate a chess board.

Lucius was sitting on an elegant dark green couch, sipping brandy from a crystal and silver glass that twinkled in the firelight, looking at the fire with a blank expression in his stony face.

Draco was nowhere in sight.

"I see you have finally arrived" he did not take his eyes away from his liquor, but Lucius had always been able to notice people´s presence without even looking". I was starting to wonder if you were going to come, but I should have known better than to doubt you. Draco is in her room, though I am not certain of what her condition is"

At least, he had the decency to look slightly ashamed as he sat there, next to a fire, dispassionately informing him of the precarious situation his own daughter was on. Taking a deep breath and putting on his own dispassionate face, Severus sat down on a wooden chair next to the fire as his heart sank to his stomach.

"And what, pray tell" he began, keeping his voice as indifferent as he could ", was the verdict?"

"Well, she is still alive, isn´t she?" Lucius said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, looking at him for the first time". Not guilty"

Severus released a breath he hadn´t known he was holding "I´m glad. It wouldn´t have been good for you to lose the family heiress at this delicate time"

"Certainly" the blond man agreed". Crouch was much too stupid to be of use, in the end. Apparently, he was found out by Potter, of all people. Did you know about that?"

"Not really" Severus answered, not certain of what his answer was supposed to be. In moments like this one, lying had always served him well, so he did". My assignment was that of returning the students to the castle. I was not there when Crouch was apprehended" there was a pause" What did she tell you?"

Lucius shrugged, looking into the fire" That it was damage control. Crouch had been found out and was a... dangerous liability"

"Was?"Severus furrowed his eyebrows, confused over the past tense.

Lucius smiled cruelly "He´s been given the Kiss"

Severus stared at him, gaping. When he realized what he was doing, he quickly composed his blank face and thanked all the gods that Lucius hadn´t been watching.

The Kiss... So that was what Draco had had to do. To be on good terms with her father, she´d erased the evidences of her slip up helping Potter.

Suddenly, Severus was very happy he had lied.

"I... asked her in all manners possible. I don´t think her to be lying" the blond man told him and drank the remaining liquor in his glass, grimacing at the taste". If she were lying, though... Draco is not stupid. She wouldn´t have come back if she were lying. It would have been easier for her to go into hiding instead of playing mind games with me"

That was true. Why the hell had she come back here?"What will you do with her, now?" he asked instead". I don´t think keeping her locked up is a viable option"

"Well, the Ministry hasn´t knocked at my door with a restraining order so far, which leads me to the assumption that Draco did a good clean-up after Crouch" Lucius mused out loud, looking up at the ceiling". There is no reason to doubt her"

"I see" Severus stood up". In that case, I would like to see her. Excuse me"

A hand on his arm stopped him from leaving "Wait, Severus". He was looking at him in the eye, serious" Our Lord has taken an interest in meeting her. Tonight" he let go of his arm and smiled a gleeful smile, the smile of a madman". This will be the first time you see him in his new form, isn´t it? At last, things are as they used to be"

Severus forced himself to give something approaching a smile around the knot of dread that had formed itself spontaneously in his throat" Of course. At last"

As soon as he´d stepped out of the book-portal, Severus gave up on all false pretence and broke to a run for the East wing, where Draco´s chamber was. His mind was processing all the data it had just received, trying to make sense of everything and not to miss any details. Questions began to form themselves in between the pieces of incomplete information. Why had Draco wanted Lucius to think her innocent? Why hadn´t she told him of her plans? And, most importantly, how the hell was he going to save her from the Dark lord if he now wanted to meet her?

Severus didn´t know, but he was planning on finding out.

Overflowing with the pictures of every Malfoy that had ever roamed it´s hallways, the eastern wing of the Manor was disguised as a long portrait gallery, keeping the sleeping bedroom occupants safely hidden behind the images of their ancestors. Draco´s chamber was the one farthest away from all the other ones, guarded by the full-body portrait of her aristocratic great-grandfather, her namesake, who had lived up to an amazing one-hundred than fifty-seven years old. He had lived to see Draco turn one year old, and had grown to love her dearly in that short amount of time.

"Professor Snape" the old man, forever immortalized wearing the hat he hated most, looked relieved to see him" Draco hasn´t come out in two days. I fear for her well being"

Severus nodded" I´ll see that she recovers"

The portrait slid aside, letting him into the chamber. Draco´s room was spacious and light, but was mostly empty given the fact that it´s owner didn´t spend much time in it. There were a few chairs and a low table, overflowing with food, by the window, and a four poster bed in the middle of the room, where a young lady was lying very still. Next to the bed, an elderly house elf wearing a knitted red hat half her size was biting her fingernails, looking as pale as a brown creature could look. As soon as she set her huge black eyes on Severus, she ran to him, visibly relieved.

"My Lord Snape!" the small creature greeted him" My lady don´t wake up! Wobbly made my best but... but..."

Severus placed a hand on the little creature´s head, who looked like she was about to cry "It´s alright, Wobbly" he said in what he hoped was a comforting tone". You may go now; I will take care of her"

"But Wobbly want to stay! Wobbly helps!" the big black eyes were swimming in tears and Severus sighed. The old house elf had been the one in charge of his goddaughter´s care while growing up, and had grown to love the girl greatly. She had been freed, along with every other servant in the house, years ago, but she had refused to leave her Little Mistress´ side and continued to serve Draco behind Lucius´ back.

For her courage, Wobbly had his respect" Alright, then. If you wish to help, there is a black box under the stairs in my house. Bring it" Wobbly nodded vigorously, comforted by the precise orders, and disappeared with an audible "pop".

"She´ll never learn" a raspy voice told him from the bed". She´s been free for two years, but she still craves for people to boss her around. I just don´t get it"

"It is what she has always known" Severus answered, relieved to see her awake". Not everyone is as quick to adapt as you, wretched child"

"So I hear"

Draco was lying on her side, facing him, with dark circles under her eyes and her cracked lips pressed in a tight, white line. He sat on the edge of the bed and pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling it´s temperature and finding it normal. No infection, then.

"Are you in pain?" Severus asked. _What did he do?_ he thought

"Not really. It´s nothing to worry about"

So it had been Cruciatus.

"Why was Wobbly so scared about you not waking, then?"

"She gave me enough painkiller potions to knock out a Troll" she rolled on to her back and closed her eyes" I feel as if I were drunk and stoned at the same time, only without the after-party glee"

Severus did a quick check-up, anyway, knowing Draco´s concept of "okay" wasn´t the most accurate in the world. She was trembling slightly, and twitching for no apparent reason, clearly still in pain, the normal nervous system disorders caused by prolonged Cruciatus curse. The after-effects, even when dimmed by painkillers and relaxants, would not completely disappear without a strong dose of Papaver potion, which would numb the body for the necessary amount of time for it to overcome its hyper-sensitivity to stimuli.

Severus sighed, knowing there was really nothing he could do until Wobbly came back with his medicinal potions stash. He was, however, rather certain that Draco wasn´t badly hurt, so he set out for answers, knowing there would probably be no other opportunities to learn the truth.

"Rumour has it Barty Crouch Jr. Was given the Kiss" he started in a conversational tone. Draco opened her red rimmed eyes and looked at him straight in the eye, her blank expression giving nothing away.

"That is... very strange. He should have been returned to Azkaban" she said softly

Draco´s abilities to hide the true meaning of her words was growing by the day, but he could still read her like a book "He was the only one who could have told your father about your little... slip up. How strange that his mind has been made completely useless so suddenly"

She pushed herself up to a sitting position without any help and gave him her best innocent face" Then it is a very convenient turn of events, don´t you think?"

Severus stared.

"You are incorrigible"

Draco laughed" So they say"

He rubbed his face with his hand "Honestly, Draco" he said through his fingers" What was the point of all of this? You could have saved yourself the trouble of ensuring Crouch´s silence by just not coming back to the Manor. Yet you came back and now..."

"Now what?" she asked when he didn´t continue. Severus looked at her, suddenly feeling very old

"Now you have a date with the Dark Lord. Tonight" he sighed". He wants to meet you. Your father, who thinks you on his side, by the way, told me so"

Draco, who had clearly lost the last bits of sanity she had left, smiled at him" It worked, then" she said, but added no further words.

"What worked? Your elaborate plan that culminated on self-destruction?" he asked, incredulous.

"That particular plan hasn´t yet been put into action"

"Then what plan?" he asked again, Draco´s exasperating attitude taking its toll on him". Why did you come back here for? Lucius has been torturing you for a month! Why would you want to see the Dark Lord? Haven´t you had enough of this?"

"Yes, I have" she answered softly, not looking at him in the eye" I´s just that... If they don´t trust me, I´m useless. If I run away, I´m useless" she looked at him then, her grey eyes shining with determination" If Lucius finds out about me helping Potter, I´ll have to leave or he´ll kill me. If I leave the school and run away, all the Slytherins will be Death Eaters, they won´t have a choice in the matter. And if they all become Death Eaters... then this will never end. I´ll do anything. I´ve had enough of this, and I´ll put an end to it"

"But at what costs?" Severus asked sternly" You don´t know what you are getting into. Turning students against Voldemort qualifies as treason. If you want to fool your father, or worse, the Dark Lord himself, there is no telling what you will have to do"

"You told me once that to win a war someone has to volunteer to become the enemy" she told him, not backing off". Whatever has to be done, I´ll do it. I do not care"

Severus looked at her, so young and, yet, so ready to give it all up.

"Neither guilt nor grief are good reasons to throw you life away" he told her softly" Both your sister and Mr. Diggory loved you, and I doubt they would have liked your idea"

"I said something similar not too long ago" Draco smiled sadly" It´s not about that" she paused, adding" Well, partly, it is. But it´s also about my friends and, well, me. I´m not a coward, and leaving... well, that would be rather cowardly. Besides, Lucius owns half the country. I´d be dead in a convenient broom accident by the end of the month"

"True" Severus agreed, and furrowed his eyebrows" How did you manage to make the Ministry give the order for Crouch to be given the Kiss?"

"I had a chat with Dumbledore, who supports my idea, by the way," she explained", and then he had a chat with Fudge. He implied that people knowing about what, exactly, Mr. Crouch Jr. was, combined with the Ministry´s inability to find out sooner, wouldn´t be good publicity for the upcoming elections"

Severus raised an eyebrow "And?"

"What?"

"Do you honestly want me to believe that that was the only measure you took? After all, it could have failed"

Draco rolled her eyes, annoyed" And... I might have sneaked into the holding cell posing as a guard and Obliviated the smelly bastard. You know, just in case he was interrogated first"

"I should have never taught you how to brew a Polyjuice" he sighed and gave up". Alright, you pest. Do as you like. I´ll have your back"

Just when Draco smiled gratefully, there was a loud popping sound, followed by a high, delighted squeal.

"Miracle!" Wobbly jumped to the bed and attached herself to Draco´s neck, crying in absolute joy" My lady!"

"Hello, Wobbly" Draco petted her head awkwardly, but her smile brightened "Thank you for taking care of me and making sure I wasn´t alone"

Severus was picking up his emergency potions stash, which Wobbly had left lying on the floor, when he noticed something or, more accurately, he noticed the absence of something that wasn´t there to be noticed.

"Where´s Somewhere?" he asked, looking around for a familiar furry annoyance

"That was my part of the deal" Draco explained, still trying to console the crying Wobbly". Dumbledore asked me for his help, so I told Somewhere to go with him"

"How that brute of an animal could be of use to someone, I do not know" he said, picking out medicinal potions from the box.

"He´s not useless" Draco told him indignantly

"But he is a brute" said Severus, not looking away from his task

"There´s no arguing that" Draco conceded". Dumbledore sent him off looking for Potter. The old man probably needs all the help he can get his hands on, with all the bad press he´s getting. He saved my life by getting Crouch lobotomized, but he also allowed the Ministry to destroy proof of Voldemort´s return. I owe him" she sighed, lying back down and pulling Wobbly with her". I´ll be off to the Cottage after we are done with Voldie, if you don´t mind"

Severus sighed "What for? I have just restocked my cupboards. Can´t you at least wait a few days before eating all my food?"

"No, of course not. I´m a growing girl, I need food"

"You are a food thief, that´s what you are" he sat on the bed again and made her sit up to drink down the medicine

"It´s the other part of the deal" Draco confessed, grimacing at the taste of the potion". I have to... argh, I can´t even say it! You are going to mock me for all eternity for this. This will be a long year"

_And tonight will be a long night_ went unsaid.

* * *

Little Whinging at night didn´t usually look so terrifying.

Partially obscured by the fog, the trees that bordered the street had an ominous air about them, like the bloodthirsty giants he´d read about in a book once and, with the moon hidden behind the dark clouds, the only light was that of the white-yellow street lamps, illuminating only a small portion of the positively spooky landscape.

Harry clutched Hedwig´s cage tightly to his chest with both arms as he walked to the designated streetlamp, subconsciously waiting for a pale girl with long, black hair to come out of somewhere to kill him in some atrocious manner, and cursing himself inwardly for watching so many horror movies.

The streets were empty, for every ordinary family in ordinary Little Whinging was asleep by the reasonable, ordinary hour of nine o´clock every night, holidays included, and the walk to the corner had seemed a lot shorter from the window. Not that Harry was scared.

He picked up the pace, the small circle of light created by the lamp his only objective, willing his mind to turn away from thoughts of a dark cemetery and red eyes narrowed to slits. He reached the street lamp with a relieved sigh, immediately resting his back on the pole, looking around carefully. All clear. Harry closed his eyes, sighing, while Hedwig hooted softly in her cage.

With his eyes closed, he felt more at ease, for the night often deceived him, making shadows look things that they were not, making them move. Half light had always scared him the most, for at least in a closed darkness he could not see what awaited him. He sighed again, knowing that if he hadn´t had sneaked down to the living room to watch that movie he would not be so...

"Who would have said the-boy-who-lived is so afraid of the dark?"

Harry´s scream of pure terror was very unmanly, and Sirius´ sunny laughter broke through the cold and quiet of the still night.

"Damn it, Sirius!" Harry hissed, his heart rate refusing to slow" You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"It was just a joke!" Sirius told him, gasping for breath "Ah, Harry, you should have seen your face..." upon saying that, he seemed to picture the whole scene again, and doubled over with renewed fits of laughter.

In his moment of mind-numbing panic, Harry had dropped the cage he was holding, sending a screeching Hedwig free-falling to the ground. The metal rattled loudly against the concrete sidewalk and, when Harry went to pick it up, a furious, hissing bundle of white feathers menacingly snapped her beak him, letting him know that owl-y retribution would come in the form of more than a mere finger-nip. Harry looked up at Sirius and glared.

"What?" Sirius asked, still smiling" It´s your own fault for being such a fearful lad" pulling out his wand, he whispered a quick charm and the cage floated up.

"I am not fearful" said Harry, watching the metal container still mid-air". You startled me, that´s all"

"Sure" Sirius conceded. Harry smiled and elbowed him, to which he smiled back. It was weird, Harry thought, to be so familiar with someone he only truly knew by paper and the odd Flu-call.

Sirius looked decidedly better now than he had the last time Harry saw him, less edgy, and he didn´t look half starved anymore. That, combined with the tailored black robes and the shortened hair, made him look younger, his dark grey eyes twinkling with the promise of mischief. If there was something wrong with the world that Harry didn´t know about, he sure couldn´t tell from his godfather´s appearance.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked as they began walking further away from his uncle´s house, the enchanted cage floating along, carrying a sulking Hedwig inside of it.

"On an adventure" Sirius grinned, a sharp canine peeking from the corner of his mouth". Completely safe, of course. Dumbledore would never send us off to do something dangerous, no sir"

"Oh, of course not" said Harry sarcastically". He would just send us off looking for harmless secret chambers and have us fight a dragon or two. Nothing to worry about"

Sirius laughed, making the floating cage rattle slightly" There is nothing like that in tonight´s plans, so don´t worry. We only have to go to the Leaky Cauldron and wait for instructions, nothing more" Harry eyed him suspiciously, and Sirius shrugged". Seems fairly safe to me"

"And what else?" Harry asked". You wouldn´t be so giddy if that were all. There has to be something else"

The black haired man grinned brightly again" He told me to ´Wait out for the hellhound´"

"Hellhound?" a few neighbours peeked through their blind at Harry´s shout, but he paid them no mind" What did he mean by hellhound"

"I honestly do not know" Sirius threw his hands up in the air". All I know, I have already told you" he looked genuinely excited by the prospect of not knowing what he was coming up against.

Harry had to ask" Are you insane?"

"Of course not, Remus had me tested" came the mocking answer". I got a certificate and everything"

Against his will, Harry laughed.

Edging away from the lines of residencies of equal size and colour, they reached the only place in Little Whinging Harry did not despise: the park, the only place where things were uneven and joyful without any sort of measurements.

Even though it was bordered with lit lamps, the playground looked as dark and scary as the deserted streets. The wind had gained some strength, making the swings and the long branches of the Babylon willows move seemingly on their own. Harry´s eyes strayed away from the swings, in the general direction of the older children games, where the marry-go-round was creaking soundly as it spun, unoccupied.

When he had been old enough to escape his aunt´s imprisoning eyes and sneak out of the house unnoticed one afternoon, Harry had gone to the park and spun the merry-go-round, jumping on the brightly coloured planks of wood and letting the world blur by. He had been sick for hours, since he had only just eaten and he hadn´t been told the rule of ´no brusque movements after lunch´, but it had all been worth that one moment of freedom.

"Alright, here we are" Sirius´ voice abruptly got him back to the real world. He looked around, confused.

"Where are we?" he asked.

Sirius extended his arm to Harry, motioning for him to hold on, and curled his other arm around Hedwig´s cage" It´s time for a little hocus-pocus"

Harry took the offered extremity and, almost immediately, felt a familiar pull on his navel, as the world blurred around him a thousand times faster than it would on the merry-go-round. A strange kind of not-quite pain, almost like an itch, came over him, almost as if he had been pulled off his feet and submerged him in cold water, his clutch on Sirius´ arm the only thing that let him know he was still on land.

As suddenly as it had begun, the strange feeling went away, and he was standing next to Sirius before the dingy facade of the Leaky Cauldron, feeling an increasing need to empty the contents of his stomach.

"Sorry" Sirius apologized, walking to the door with Hedwig still in his grasp. As soon as Harry´s world stopped spinning around him, he moved to follow.

As it was to be expected on a working day, the pub was mostly empty, save for the odd couple and the people renting the rooms, so the place was quiet and calm, devoid of the usual chaos large families or drunken customers tended to bring.

"Mr. Potter" Tom the barkeeper greeted, smiling funnily at them both". How kind of you to come. And you brought a" he winked at Sirius in a conspiring way" friend" he finished, and sniggered.

"Room for let, Tom" Sirius said, smiling, and handed him Hedwig´s cage". We´ll have dinner first, if you don´t mind"

Tom bowed, taking the cage. He walked away slowly, climbing up the stairs one at the time, and they stood there, not certain what to do, listening, until his footsteps were no longer discernible.

"Sorry about that" a pretty blonde girl wearing an apron said". He... is forgetting things, these days. I´ll show you to your table... and find out where he put your owl, later" she told them, her eyes unavoidably straying to Harry´s scar.

Sirius, ever the charmer, sent a disarming smile in her direction" Not to worry. I´m Remus and this is my godson Harry. It´s a pleasure"

"I´m Rebecca" the girl said, smiling shyly. Trust Sirius not to let his condition as a wanted man to interfere with his wooing abilities.

They followed Rebecca to a table by the low windows and sat down. The food was good, the company was better, and Harry felt happy for the first time in months, sharing a meal with his godfather. He smiled at Rebecca when she came to collect the dishes, and she blushed and ducked her head.

"I think you owe me a thank you" Sirius told him, smug". Not only did I buy you dinner, I also introduced you to the love of your life"

"Shut up" Harry threw him a napkin across the table.

Sirius just laughed" Well, she is kind of cute. And she likes you" he shrugged". Don´t you think it´s about time for you to get a little something from being the saviour of wizarding world?"

"Are you implying that she would only like me because I´m Harry Potter?"

"Well, you weren´t exactly blessed with unearthly beauty, and you aren´t precisely eloquent, so why not use the weapons you really have?"

This time, he got plate thrown in his direction.

They found Hedwig perched on the back of a chair in the room number 11. After some apologizing and treat-giving on Harry´s part, she forgave him for startling her so terribly before and allowed him to tentatively pet her head. His trunk had arrived on it´s own, apparently, for Tom hadn´t answered when he´d been asked.

The room had two beds, and Harry chose the one closest to the window, lying on his side as he watched the rain fall. It had threatened to fall all day and, finally, it was coming down hard, from every direction, splattering the dirty glass.

Harry tried to keep himself awake, remembering the dream he´d had the night before, but the warm blankets and the sound of raindrops hitting the roof lulled him to sleep.

* * *

For hours on end, the only thing she´d been able to hear was the sound of her own breathing and the repeated sound of a drop of water hitting the floor, signalling a leak on the roof, somewhere around her, but she could not see anything in the closed darkness surrounding her. She was not in a big room, though, not a real room: she was in a dark broom closet in the living room of an old house, waiting for someone to come and take her out for another hour of torture.

Joan´s throat was raw from screaming, and her over sensitive skin could feel every unevenness of the planks of wood that covered the floor. Hours ago, dizzy and feverish, she had stopped trying to call for help, knowing that that would only give them an excuse to torture her some more. Escaping on her own was not an option, since she was pretty sure her ankles had been broken by the stone snakes, she could not feel her feet, and the blood loss was making it harder and harder for her to concentrate. She wasn´t sure what these people were, what that man, who could barely be called one, wanted.

The sole memory made her shudder. He knew it was a man, for no animal could speak, and certainly not with such hatred and cruelty, but that grey, clammy looking skin, those long, bony arms and legs, and those eyes... Red, and narrowed to slits, full with so much cruelty and malice...

He had been the one to catch her at the door and pull her into the house, past the figure on the floor that looked like a dead body but she could not be sure. He´d thrown her inside of a closet in the next room, and pointed a short branch at her, repeating the word she had heard him say before, ´Crucio´. Immediately afterwards, she felt as if thousands of needles pierced through her skin at once, burning and freezing her all at the same time, making her scream louder than she ever remembered screaming before. When the pain stopped, there was only darkness.

She´d woken up a few hours later, the darkness closing around her, feeling like a thousand hangovers were fighting each other over her brain, and she´d screamed for help. The door had opened and Joan had looked up in hope, following a pair of pointy female shoes up to a long black corseted dress. Joan first saw the malicious twist of her smile, but when she reached those hating brown eyes she was frozen with terror. The woman had pointed a different branch at her, but said the same word, and the pain had come back, only a dozen times worse. She´d kept silent, after that.

Joan tried to swallow, but her mouth was completely dry, and she remembered that she hadn´t had anything to drink or eat for almost a day. Her lips were cracked and bleeding from where she´d bitten through in a moment of agony, and the coppery taste of blood was bitter in her mouth, but at least it tasted like something. She was in the middle of indulging her newfound vampiric tendencies when she heard the front door open with a loud creaking sound, and footsteps getting closer.

There was a soft popping sound, and the crack between the door and the door-frame let a trickle of white light into the dark closet. As a mot is lured by a fire, Joan dragged her battered body closer to the life source, as if the white light could somehow chase away the cold.

"My Lord" three voices said at once, two men and one woman. She could have tried to spy through the crack, but she was much too scared, and she wasn´t certain she could actually hold her head up enough to see anything.

"Rise" the red eyed man was the one that spoke, his voice raspy with what she now knew was disuse". It makes me happy that you could locate me at such short notice. The original plan was for me to go stay at your mansion, Lucius, but Lord Greengrass insisted on me staying here, at his estate, for a while"

"That will be no problem, my Lord" one of the newly arrived men, presumably Lucius, said.

"I see you have been able to make it this time, Severus" he addressed the other newcomer" It was very rude of me to solicit your presence so suddenly the last time, but it had to be done. I trust your cover remains intact"

"It is, my Lord" the other man answered in the same reverent tones

"And I see you have brought me my wish" the clammy skinned man hissed in a predatory manner" Little Draco, when I see you I feel the time passing. You were naught but a child last time you were in my presence, but look at you now: a woman"

Only then did Joan allow her curiosity to once again get the best of her. Lifting her head up, moving her left eye closer to the crack, she tried to catch a glimpse of something. She could only see the red eyed man, sitting on a highly ostentatious couch, but could not see the newcomers.

"Your dear aunt Bellatrix wanted to see you, but she was forced to leave a few hours ago" the man continued". I myself have wanted to meet you for a while"

"It´s an honour, my Lord" a girl said, her voice completely level. Joan was certain that if it had been her standing before that horrible creature, her voice would have at least shaken.

"Is it, now?" he took a step forward and Joan lost sight of him, but her eyes fell immediately to the figure that lay unmoving on the floor: the man she´d seen before" I am uncertain, Draco. You see: I am told that you sabotaged my plans to kill Harry Potter because of a half-blood dead boy"

"That is most certainly not true, my Lord" the girl answered in the same even tones she´d used before". I was only acquainted with that boy for the sake of appearances. What I did with Crouch was simply clean up- the man could not be trusted. He´d blown up his cover"

"You say that you did what you did for the sake of our cause...I find it hard to believe you" he paced back to Joan´s field of vision, turning away from his visitors". If I don´t poorly remember, a mere few years ago you had a very strong opinion towards me and my ideas"

"You said it yourself, my Lord: I was but a child" the girl said, dancing away from the fire". I am a woman, now"

"And yet, that does not make me feel better" he said, his voice speculative". The last time you were only a child and, yet, you plotted and schemed against me to save your sister and a few Muggles. How can I know if you are speaking the truth when you say you are loyal to me? How can I know if you are honest or if you have just gotten better at lying?"

"My Lord, please..." one of the men started, but was silenced by a look the red eyed man threw over his shoulder.

He turned fully around, once again facing the newcomers" I like you, Draco" he hissed in a conversational manner" You are much smarter than most of my other followers, and that could be useful, but I need to be certain of where your loyalties lie" he sat down on his chair". That cleverness of yours... could be used either for me or against me"

"Pray tell, my Lord" the girl began, taking a step forward and bowing on one knee before the seated man", what could I do to assure you of my faithfulness? Whatever it is that you want, I shall do, for you are my one and only Lord.

After a pause, she bowed her head, breaking eye contact. The Red Eyed Man seemed to mull it over for a while, looking up to the ceiling. Joan could not assure it, but she would bet that the other three occupants in the room where holding their breath, waiting for the verdict.

There was a long pause, and the Red Eyed Man visibly stilled, his eyes shining maliciously: he had come to a conclusion. His lips twisted horribly in a cruel smile, and he placed his hand on top of the girl´s bowed head.

"Well" he began, savouring the words", the last time, you did save a few Muggles, which tells me you thought them worthy. That, of course, is unacceptable. A test"

His head slowly turned towards the closet Joan was trapped in, and she felt herself freeze in terror as those red eyes seemed to pierce through the wooden door and burn her alive. Her pulse quickened, her breath became laboured. A slow smile of pure evil formed itself on his pale lips and, without looking away, he pulled the girl´s head up to look at him.

"If you have forgotten that ridiculous affection for vermin, prove it" he nodded in Joan´s direction". A particularly annoying, nosey bug is locked in there. Squash it"

Nodding, the girl got up.

Joan jerked away from the door as it was opened brutally, hitting the wall with a loud thud. The girl stood there, her blond hair shining white in the dim light, like a halo crowning an angel of death. Her eyes were a deep vibrant grey, shining with frightening determination, her lips pulled into a tight white line. Joan´s brain short circuited, realizing long before the rest of her did that this girl was going to kill her, for she was the very picture of resolve, standing there with white light surrounding her, outlining her black dress. She had a branch, too, just like the others, and if those branches were able to cause so much pain, what would stop them from killing someone?

"Please..." Joan wasn´t certain when she had started crying, but she saw no use to stopping now" Don´t... please..."

The blond regarded her coolly down her nose, as if Joan really were just a bug begging to be squashed.

"What is your name?" she asked, her voice soft but firm, modelling every word carefully before letting them meet the silence

"J-J-J-Joan" she stammered out, a pathetic way to introduce herself to her end. Taking a deep breath, she tried again" J-Joan Kevner"

The blond angel looked at her steadily, un-judging, while the Red Eyed Man´s laughing eyes regarded the whole scene from the behind her. She began lifting her branch, but her resolve wavered and she let her arm fall again, looking down. She closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath, and looked back up at Joan.

"Very well, Joan Kevner" she sentenced", this is the night you die"

She raised her branch up and, before she could even protest, Joan´s world had been enveloped by shadows.

* * *

Harry bolted upright on the bed, a frightened scream barely contained behind clenched teeth. His scar was hurting more than it had ever had after a dream, almost as if it were melting it´s way through his skin, piercing his skull and getting to his brain, and he felt unbearably nauseous. The storm was still raging outside, as it had all night, and Sirius was nowhere in sight, he probably had gone down to the pub for breakfast, so Harry didn´t have to worry about appearances when he ran to the bathroom in his pyjamas and threw up.

"You don´t look good, man" Harry-in-the-mirror told him after he´d finished brushing his teeth and washing his face with cold water

"Thanks" Harry answered sarcastically, running wet fingers through his hair, which was sticking up in different directions, to try and make it look better, but only succeeded in rearranging it so it would stick up in other directions, as unruly as ever.

He grabbed the edges of the sink and let his head drop forward, sighing, as images from the dream ran over and over in his head. He didn´t remember much, only some images, and the ending... He had never dreamed about the same person twice, and this particular dream made him feel even more useless than the others. She had been alive... for a whole day.

He pushed himself away from the sink and back to the room, picking up some clothes from his trunk and putting them on.

He had never had a dream as vague as this one, and he wasn´t certain if that was because the dream was un-detailed on itself or his own subconscious had blurred it. The other strange thing was that in his dreams, usually, Voldemort was the one to do the killings. The person who had opened the closet door was shadowed in his mind, blurry, but Harry knew who it was. If he could just see it again...

"Morning, Harry" Sirius greeted with a smile, sitting on the same table they´d used the night before

"Good morning" said Harry, sitting down". What time is it?"

"About nine, I think" Sirius answered between bites of his sandwich. His concept of breakfast wasn´t much better than Harry´s, it seemed". I got up early to see if the old man owled, but there was...nothing"

There was an enormous amount of empty plates on the table, and an equally enormous amount of other plates filled with toast, croissants and other breakfast things, along with a half empty coffee pot. He had gotten up early indeed.

"Well, maybe he´s just too busy" Harry said, feeling his appetite rising at the proximity of food. He brought the plate with croissants over

"But what about what he said?" Sirius argued, re-filling his cup with coffee and filing up another one, passing it to Harry.

"Well..., maybe he was using a metaphor. He does that all the time" Harry answered, eying his cup suspiciously. He never drank coffee, but people seemed to love it, so he decided to give it a try.

Harry drank some of the dark liquid and it burned his very vocal chords. Once again proving he was not a good person, Sirius laughed at his dying godson, who could actually feel the burning coffee travel all the way down his digestive system. After swallowing a piece of toast to quench the burn, and heartily vowing never to drink coffee again, Harry looked up, and had to blink away some tears, to see Sirius had become silent, looking at some point behind Harry´s back, his sandwich paused mid way on the trajectory to his mouth.

"What is it?" Harry asked, grimacing at the pain saying those few words caused to his poor mouth.

Sirius didn´t take his eyes away from whatever he was looking at" I don´t think he was using a metaphor"

Harry frowned, confused, and turned around, his eyes widening at the sight.

Two years ago, he had publicly laughed at Professor Trelawney´s premonitions of doom, writing them off as ridiculous. It had been easy to call the whole Grim thing a superstition, the delusions of a crazy old hag, during the day, in the company of his friends. They were Gryffindors, after all, and laughing at danger was what they did.

During the night, things had been different. Even though he knew Ron was sleeping on the bed next to his, and those grunting sounds were, actually, Neville snoring, Harry could not shake away the feeling that something was watching him from the shadows, waiting patiently for the right moment to pounce.

In the end, the supposed Grim had turned out to be his godfather, and Harry had finally been able to overcome his one year long phobia of demonic black dogs, knowing they were nothing but an old tale.

That was what Harry had thought. Now, he could actually see the truth.

There, blocking the pub´s exit with it´s massive body, drenched, dirtying the wooden floor with huge, muddy paws, looking exactly like the creature that had haunted the dreams of little boys and girls since the beginning of civilization, stood the Grim.

It was enormous, as big as a small horse, and it had black fur, which hung off it in long tufts. It simply stood there, looking inside with big black eyes, sniffing the air occasionally. It had pushed the door open on it´s own, apparently, for there was no one behind it. It was looking for something, someone, and Harry had a vague idea of whom, exactly, that was.

Because every God out there hated him, the dog abruptly turned it´s head in Harry´s direction, making everyone gasp at the sudden movement. Harry felt afraid of those big black eyes, which stared at him with predatory focus, as the canine scowled ominously in his direction.

Just when Harry thought the animal would run in and bite his head off, it seemed to finish it´s analysis of the situation and come to some sort of satisfactory conclusion, for it let it´s ears fall back, it´s mouth fall open and it´s tongue come out. Only when the huge beast was panting with it´s mouth open and wagging it´s tail like a puppy at the door did Harry notice that it wore a collar around it´s neck, like a domestic dog.

Harry gaped, as everyone else in the pub was doing, at the enormous creature, and remained frozen in place. The dog, oblivious to the reaction it was getting, strutted further inside, still wagging it´s tail happily. In spite of Harry´s prayers of please, God, not me, it went straight at him, stopping in front of the table he and Sirius shared, and sat down. It looked them over, sniffing the air vigorously and, once again, seemed to be satisfied, for it proudly showed them it´s neck. Tied with a purple ribbon to the green dog collar the canine wore was a small, rolled up parchment.

Swallowing hard, Harry extended a hand to it, carefully extracting the note without touching the beast. As soon as it saw Harry had the message in his hands, the dog lied down on his belly and settled it´s head on it´s front paws, looking up at him piteously. Sirius, who until then had only observed the events unravel, picked up a croissant from Harry´s plate and gave it to the canine, who gobbled at it contentedly and wagged it´s tail with even more enthusiasm, moving closer to Sirius, who had just become it´s best friend.

"That man certainly has a taste for the theatrics" said Sirius, smiling incredulously as he patted the animal´s head". Don´t worry!" he told the other customers" It´s friendly! False alarm..."

When people had stopped gaping at them and gone back to their business, Harry unrolled the parchment, turning it so Sirius could read it from his position at the other side of the table. In purple ink, elaborate penmanship decorated the yellowed paper, giving a clear sign of who had sent them this missive.

_Dear Harry and Sirius,_

_After an extensive discussion, it was decided that Harry will need some summer classes. I hope you will excuse me for not being there in person, but, in my stead, I have sent our best man or, should I be more precise, canine. Harry, Somewhere will be your guide in the next stage of your activities. He is very trustable, and I know he will safely deliver you to your destination. _

_As for you, Sirius, I´m afraid you are needed at Head Quarters immediately. Do not trouble yourselves, my friends, for you will see each other soon. _

_Times of hardship await us. Do not waste the opportunities fate gives you if you can use them at your advantage._

_Hoping to see you soon,_

_I am, yours most sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

"Summer classes?" Harry repeated, looking at Sirius for some sort of explanation.

Sirius shrugged" What do you want me to say? It´s your own fault for fooling around during class. Shame on you, Harry Potter"

"I don´t fool around!" Harry retorted, to which Sirius laughed.

"It´s probably not what you think" he said, petting the dog again". In times like these, some extra knowledge may come in handy"

Harry frowned" And a dog will be my guide?"

"Hey! Do not doubt animal intelligence" Sirius told him, still petting the dog". He is a hellhound. Our friend Somewhere here has feelings"

"He´s your friend? Already?" Harry asked, incredulous

"Of course" his godfather answered, scratching the dog´s ears and allowing it to lick his face". We understand each other. Besides, he´ll only deliver you to your destination. Somebody else is going to teach you. I think"

"Hmmm"

After a silent breakfast, they got out of the pub and, after some awkward dancing around each other, hugged goodbye. The heavy morning rain had diminished to a light drizzle, and Harry watched Sirius walk away from him with hunched shoulders and a heavy heart.

He started when Somewhere pulled at his sleeve, hard, and barked to get his attention. The dog grunted in appreciation when Harry scratched his ear, and motioned with his head for Harry to follow him when he turned around. With his luggage transfigured into a practical back pack, curtsey of his godfather, and a moody Hedwig perched on his shoulder, Harry followed.

Through his spelled impermeable barrier, he could not feel the raindrops falling, but the streets of Diagon Alley were flooded with water. With his hood on, people didn´t recognize him, so Harry went unnoticed as he followed blindly behind Somewhere. The sidewalks were very crowded, but everybody made way for the scary looking hellhound.

They passed the most well-known shops in the alley and entered an alley Harry had never gone to before. It was narrow and dim-lit, for the several stories high shops located on both sides did not let any light shine through, and it was much quieter, less crowded, with no children running around, and no mobs gathering around windows to take a look at the latest products.

Over one of the shop windows, which displayed a cauldron expelling some suspicious looking yellow vapours, an old wooden sign read "Worshipful Society of Apothecaries", and Harry understood why he had never been here before: potions had never been his thing.

Somewhere headed to a very narrow alley, more like a crack between two shops, and disappeared inside it´s darkness. Hedwig hooted in alarm, letting Harry know exactly how she felt about closed up, dark places, but he scratched her feathers in what he hoped was a soothing manner. Checking first if there was anybody watching, Harry ducked into the alley way, squinting in the darkness for his guide on the way that had seemed straight from outside, but twisted and turned deceivingly.

He walked in the darkness for what felt like hours, images of the dream he´d had the night before resurfacing to haunt him, making him see moving shadows where there was nothing but brick and stone. Bony black hands seemed to reach out for him from the darkness; red eyes mocked him at every turn, and Harry´s life seemed to reduce itself to a narrow alley with no way out when, finally, the walls separated from his sides, the crack widening slightly, and a light shone bright from a small lamp on the floor, a lamp Somewhere seemed determined to show him.

The hellhound was sitting next to the light source, pointing at it with his body for Harry to understand, and Harry understood. A Port-key. As soon as he touched it, Somewhere pressed his nose to it, and Harry felt the now familiar pull behind his navel. The world blurred around him fast, and Harry closed his eyes, trying not to remember the last time he´d used a port-key, as the narrow alley disappeared and different figures shaped themselves around them.

When Harry opened his eyes again, he was standing in the middle of a colorful wild garden, surrounded by strange flowers and unfamiliar plants, the rain falling heavily on every petal and leaf. Hedwig hooted in appreciation of the landscape, probably thinking of all of the lovely mice she would find out here in the wild.

Somewhere seemed animated, now, wagging his tail and panting heavily, skipping from one side to the other and whining a little, as if his excitement could not be expressed by mere tail wagging, while he waited for Harry to follow him. Not too far away, surrounded by flowers, there was a wooden cottage, with light on the windows and smoke coming out of the chimney, and Harry felt himself fill with relief at the thought of a warm fire.

He followed Somewhere up to the wooden steps that led to the green door, admiring both the magical and non-magical vegetation that surrounded the small residence, wondering who he was supposed to meet there. The hellhound climbed up and down the steps ten times in what it took Harry to get to the door, panting anxiously, pointing out the doorknocker to Harry with his paws. He really was a smart dog.

Harry knocked the door twice, and waited. Hedwig flew to one of the trees that were nearest to the cottage, finding refuge in a small hole on the bark. Looking at her, Harry smiled, happy to see she was content.

When the door opened, Harry turned to it, still smiling, and he saw Draco Malfoy standing there, wearing a black corseted dress, her white blond hair shining like a halo crowning her head, her big, vibrant grey eyes regarding him coolly, every single image of the vague dream he´d had the night before came back to him.

It had been her... the Death Eater who´d killed that Muggle... Joan Kevner...

It had been her.

His blood ran hot in his veins as anger flooded his mind, blinding him, as it usually did. Anger at himself, mostly, for believing, even if it had been only for a second that this girl had saved him...

"_...tell Draco that I love her"_

Cedric´s voice cut through him like a sharp knife, the realization that he had died believing a lie, believing that this snake loved him, fuelling his rage until it became an uncontrollable wild fire and, before he could stop himself, he charged into the house and pinned Malfoy bodily to the wall.

"What the fuck are you doing, Potter?"

"You killed her!" Harry could hear his voice, but it was very far away, reaching his ears through the buzz of absolute fury. Somewhere was growling and barking menacingly on the background, but it took Harry a few seconds to realize the threatening noises were directed at him.

"What are you talking about?" Malfoy struggled, but could not break free. Apparently, rage made Harry stronger.

"You know what! You killed that woman!"Harry yelled". I saw it!"

Malfoy´s eyes widened in surprise" So it´s true" she whispered. She let out a short whistle then, and the hellhound´s growling stopped immediately. Malfoy smirked". So the little Golden Boy has really been taking walks to the dark side. Tell me, Potter, what does it feel like to be in Voldie´s head? Was it scary?"

"Shut up!" he was panting, his pulse was racing, and Malfoy just kept smirking that stupid smirk" Don´t say anything. You said...I believed you. Cedric believed you! You killed that woman... I..."

"Oh, please, it was just a stupid Muggle. Vermin! Why do you care so much?"

"Shut up!" Harry screamed, and heard glass shattering somewhere

"Or what?" Malfoy asked, her lips twisting in a sneer". What will you do? Come into my house and pin me to a wall, Muggle-lover?"

"I said shut up!" Harry could feel the air go burning hot and sizzle with magic, but he didn´t care" Don´t say anything or I´ll..."

He didn´t finish. Sweat was trickling down the side of his face, the heat was almost unbearable, but Malfoy seemed as calm as always.

"What?" Malfoy´s voice was ice cold, her steely eyes narrowed, and she wasn´t even trying to get away" ´You´ what? I killed someone, what will you do now? Kill me? Because you´ve threatened me before, but you better be ready to come through with it if you do it now"

"What the hell are you talking about?" it was Harry´s turn to ask.

"Cedric is dead!" she screamed, her ice facade melting with the angry fire burning in her eyes" Things have changed! You can´t afford to be a moron who charges in without thinking! Not anymore!"

"What..."

"Miss Draco?" a high, trembling voice came from the right". W-who is he?"

Harry tore his eyes away from Malfoy´s unflinching gaze to tell whoever it was to go away, but what he saw made him gasp, the words dying on his lips.

There, coming out of the hallway that led to the rest of the house, looking frightened and taking her weight off her broken and cast-wrapped ankles using a pair of crutches, stood the supposedly dead woman from his dream.

Joan Kevner.

"What..."Harry repeated, dumbfounded, looking back at Malfoy.

The blond girl rolled her eyes" Always so eloquent... He´s the saviour of human kind, Joan, and he also represents the decadence of the educational system"

"Hey!"

"Oh, shut up Potter" Malfoy shoved at him hard, and Harry stepped back, stumbling slightly". Everything´s alright, Joan. Go back inside, you haven´t recovered yet"

Joan Kevner seemed unsure, but she nodded and turned back around, walking back to where she´d come from, the uneven sound of the crutches touching the wooden disappearing as she walked through the hallway. Harry stood there, listening, until they were completely impossible to hear, the temperature slowly descending as his breathing slowed.

"I saw you... she... how?" he muttered, furrowing his brow, confused.

"That´s what I was talking about" Malfoy said, closing the door and shutting the now raging storm out. She took a pair of towels that were hanging by the door, threw one at Harry´s head and used the other one to dry Somewhere´s fur.

"What?" Harry asked softly, his earlier outburst seeming to have drained him of his energies. He watched Somewhere lick Malfoy´s face affectionately as she scrubbed him dry, purposefully not looking at Harry.

"That" she said, shrugging". You are a moron. You thought you saw me kill someone and you exploded, revealing important information" she glared". And you broke my lamp. You need to control your magic"

"How is she still alive?"

Malfoy looked at him like was the stupidest person in the world" What the hell does that matter? She´s alive, no matter how" she scowled". Dry your hair, idiot. You´ll get sick"

Harry took out his wand from one of the belt loops on his jeans to dry himself, but Malfoy shook her head at him" No magic here. It´s a safe-house, if you use magic the barriers break"

Harry put his wand in place again, too tired to ask questions "How did you know about my dreams?" he began drying his hair with the towel absently.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow" How do you think? Dumbledore told me"

Harry´s hand stilled" Why? How does he know you are trustable?"

Malfoy shrugged, carefully drying Somewhere´s ears" We have an agreement. This is my part of the deal"

Harry frowned "Why would he send me here?"

This time, Malfoy smirked"Why do you think?" she got up from the floor and walked to the hallway, Somewhere in tow.

Before she left, she looked over her shoulder and gave him an evil grin.

"Welcome to summer classes, Potter"

* * *

**Hello!**

**Nothing really happened in this chapter, I think, but I promise more action and adventure on the next ones!**

**_"De omnibus dubitandum"_ means "be suspicious of everything". This was one of Karl Marx´s favourite lines, and it sounded very Malfoy-ish to me.**

**Thank you again for giving my story some of your time!**

**Xoxo FiLau**

**P.S. If you like music, I recommend you to look up the song at the beginning. It´s one of my favourites!**


	3. Chapter 3

"_It takes it´s time to come_

_And in the end, in the end..._

_There is a reward._

_...In the zone of promises"_

Zona de Promesas, by Soda Stereo

* * *

It took Harry a full minute to process the words, another one to understand the full meaning of that particular phrase coming from that particular person, and half of another one to link them both together so that his mind could begin constructing a horrifying concept.

Summer classes. Draco Malfoy.

"What?" Harry´s bellow made the very foundations of the house shake, but Malfoy´s only reaction was to laugh loudly from down the hallway, enjoying his absolute horror like the evil little... evil thing she was. All of his exhaustion forgotten, Harry took off after her.

The hallway was far too long to be anything but a magical one, it was impossible to see the end of it, and very well lit, with a row off round yellow lamps hanging from the ceiling, but the wooden floor was covered with broken pieces of glass, and Harry realized soon enough that it was probably for the lamp he had broken. He considered apologizing, but Malfoy´s laughter was still echoing on his ears, and he decided against it.

Somewhere´s panting and the sound of his sharp claws scratching the wood as he trotted happily behind Malfoy bounced off the walls, resonating loudly in the narrow hallway, which had no doors on either side, just went on and on ahead.

Running a little to catch up with Malfoy, who was very light of foot indeed, Harry almost shouted for an explanation, but a short, menacing growl from Somewhere stopped him. He heard the Slytherin girl mutter "Easy, boy", and the enormous dog, who was nearly as tall as her, quieted down, resuming it´s content panting.

Harry, who was not stupid enough to ignore danger when he was in it´s presence, remained silent, glaring at the back of Malfoy´s neck, willing her to say something.

"Damn, Potter" she chuckled". For a four-eyed moron, you sure have a powerful death glare" she looked over her shoulder at him". I wonder what the readers of Witch Weekly would say if they knew their teen heartthrob is afraid of a little puppy"

Harry´s reply was automatic "Shut up, Mal... Wait, did you say puppy?"

"Yes"

Harry stared disbelievingly at Malfoy´s back, then at the huge black dog, then back at the girl" Seriously?"

"Well, yeah" Malfoy answered, looking ahead". Hellhounds live up to four hundred years, and Somewhere´s about fifty, so he is just a baby" she paused". Technically"

Somewhere chose that moment to look back at Harry and whine softly, appearing to forgive him for threatening his owner, at least for the time being. Feeling the wind the long black tail sent his way as the dog wagged it, Harry could not reconcile this docile, friendly creature with the nightmarish descriptions he´d read in Hermione´s books.

Harry sighed "What did you mean?" he asked". Summer classes... what did you mean by that?"

"Didn´t Dumbledore tell you?" she glanced back at him" He asked me to teach you Occlumency, that´s why you´re here"

Harry frowned "Occlumency? What is that?"

The words were out before he could stop them, and Harry wanted to bite his tongue off for being stupid enough to ask Malfoy a question. Pressing his lips together on a tight line, he awaited for the mocking reply. It never came.

"It´s a magical mind barrier" she answered instead": it protects the mind from external penetration. Professor Dumbledore thinks your... nightmares are the results of a connection you have with Voldemort"

"I´d figured that one out on my own, thank you" Harry replied sullenly

Ignoring the interruption, Malfoy went on "The professor thinks perhaps that´s not all there is to it" she explained, looking ahead at the seemingly unending corridor". He thinks that the connection you have with Voldemort is probably unintentional, but it also probably runs both ways"

"Runs both ways?" Harry asked softly as his heart picked up a faster pace" What does that mean?"

Malfoy stopped, turning around. Somewhere almost collided with her, and Harry almost collided with Somewhere, but stopped himself on time. The Gryffindor and the Slytherin looked at each other straight on, gazes unwavering, in the unending hallway´s bright light.

"It means" Malfoy started seriously" that for as long as you´ve been peeking into his mind, he´s been peeking back at yours"

Never before, not even during the most extreme moments of his life, had Harry felt such an absolute certainty that he was about to pass out as he had felt right then, right after his most hated schoolmate had told him that he´d probably been an open channel for the most powerful Dark wizard of the past few centuries to check up on his friends, his family, the people he loved most. Harry´s heart seemed to pick up speed and suddenly just stop, cold sweat gathering at the side of his neck and face as all feeling of the world around him disappeared and it was only him in that narrow hallway, the walls so close to him, closing in on him, like a cupboard...

"Oh, come on, Potter" Malfoy rolled her eyes". If I´d known you´d have a stroke, I wouldn´t have told you"

Her annoyed voice, along with Somewhere´s head being repeatedly pressed against his chest, got him out of his trance. Harry placed a hand between the hellhound´s ears and settled an unfocused gaze on Malfoy, who was standing there with her arms crossed, as if she were just waiting for him get over a cramp and keep walking. She looked nothing like the angel of death she had seemed to Joan Kevner, and nothing like the hateful snake Harry knew. Here, in this small, hidden portion of the world, Draco Malfoy looked different and, now, Harry could see things he had not paid attention to before.

Her hair was very different from the usual neat fall of white-blond it usually was, apparently still moist from the rain, it curled in places and stuck out in others; her long black dress was torn, and covered in mud; her eyes were red rimmed and had pronounced dark circles around them.

She looked like shit, and Harry knew what the only thing he needed to know was.

"That woman" he swallowed". Why didn´t you kill her?"

For the second time that day, Draco Malfoy looked at him like he was the stupidest person she´d ever shared the same air with" Well, I might not love Muggles, but I don´t like killing people, either"

"But he ordered you to" Harry insisted", you disobeyed. What are you? A spy?"

"No" she answered", I´m not"

"Are you with Voldemort?" Harry asked

Malfoy cocked her head at him" I think we´ve already gone down this road..."

"Answer me"

Malfoy straightened at the tone, and looked at him levelly. Harry didn´t budge.

She sighed" No, I´m not" she answered tiredly", but he thinks I am"

"So you are on our side"

"What are you looking for, Potter?" asked Malfoy" Some sort of confirmation?"

"No" Harry rubbed his eyes with his hand". Just a reason. You hate me, don´t you? Why help me now? Or... or after the tournament? Why did you help me then? You were probably the one who put me in danger in the first place. You knew Moody wasn´t the real one"

He knew asking all those things was probably useless. Malfoy was a good liar, after all, and could make up a convenient story for everything but, for some reason he could not point out, he knew she wouldn´t. It was in her posture, the set of her shoulders, the brightness of her eyes. She wouldn´t lie, but he just didn´t know why.

"Crouch was my responsibility, that much is true" Malfoy answered at last, eyes closing", but I don´t know why I helped you then"

"So you are saying you just changed sides because you felt like it. That makes lots of sense"

Malfoy´s eyes went stormy" It must have been temporary insanity, because I know I really don´t like you" she said slowly. Taking a deep breath, she continued". I was never on Voldemort´s side. I wasn´t going to fight him either" she crossed her arms", but he killed Cedric. I don´t like you, Potter, but I´ll take your side. This, here" she signalled around the corridor" is no offer of friendship. It´s a truce"

She extended her hand to him.

What did this mean? It meant nothing, but... It was probably the only thing he would get.

Harry took it.

"Truce, then" he said, letting go. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him "Isn´t it risky for you to tell me this? What if he´s watching?" Harry asked, concerned. He really hated Malfoy, but he didn´t wish Voldemort on anybody.

The girl spread her arms" That´s what this hallway´s for" she said". It´s a mental barrier. While we are in here, no one can access any of your thoughts without your consent"

Harry´s brow furrowed" And what happens when we leave here?"

"It´s also for that" Malfoy told him". Although that part might prove to be a bit trickier"

"What do you mean?"

"Well..." the blond girl crossed her arms, looking away". The only way to keep what we talk about and what we do in secret when we leave the Everlasting Corridor is to create an Everlasting Corridor within our minds"

Harry raised his eyebrows" Meaning?"

"Meaning" Malfoy gave him a glare that would have made any other smaller creature spontaneously combust" the only way to keep what we talk about a secret is to create a connection between the two of us"

Harry stared. All of a sudden, the corridor was very quiet, and Harry could have sworn he heard a fly fluttering its wings outside of the Cottage. Malfoy wouldn´t meet his eyes and Somewhere, who was sitting between them, looked from one of them to the other while he panted loudly, his long pink tongue sticking out the side of his mouth comically.

Harry swallowed" You sure that is the only way?"

Malfoy glared again, and Harry forced himself not to take a step back" Are you implying I don´t know what I´m doing, Potter?"

Harry raised his hands "I´m only saying, you are not exactly the brightest bulb in the box, Malfoy"

"I´m not sure what that means" she said slowly, looking down", but I am going to ignore it in favour of our truce"

Malfoy backing away from an opportunity to fight was the strangest thing in the world, almost as strange as her sudden politeness towards him. She looked up at him then, shook her head as if to clear it, and walked up to him purposefully.

"What...?"

Harry didn´t even have time to react as she crossed the little distance that separated them and knocked their foreheads together, hard. He felt a spark of magic form from the impact, and a strange feeling came over him as the little speck of energy entered his skull, finding it´s way to his brain.

A sudden bright light enveloped them both, and the last thing Harry thought before he passed out was that, in some not very distant future, he would chop Draco Malfoy in pieces and feed her to her hellhound, truce or no truce.

After that, darkness took over.

* * *

"Impressive" he heard Dumbledore say, but he didn´t raise his head from it´s position on the dining table". Truthfully impressive. I would have never thought of such plan"

He felt tempted to tell him of course not, you are not crazy, but he remained silent, because if he wanted to speak he had to look up and he couldn´t do that because, at the moment, his back was armed and dangerous, and every time he tried to straighten up it waved around a dozen knives and hissed.

He had always known, instinctively, that his goddaughter would be the end of him, but he´d always thought his would be a grand finale, a sudden and unexpected death in order to save her ungrateful, careless ass, not a periodical extraction of years from his lifespan ending unavoidably on an undignified heart attack.

Severus had, if only for a second, actually believed Draco would kill the Muggle woman, but she had once again done something that reminded him of all the reasons why he hated unpredictable morons. She could have killed the Muggle and be done with it, her safety and credibility once again ensured, but no, she just had to go and prove the world she´d been created for the sole purpose of annoying him.

She´d done the strangest spell/charm combination he´d ever seen to create an illusion for Voldemort and Lucius, showing them what they wanted to see (Draco killing a Muggle) instead of what they were really seeing (Draco stupefying a Muggle). A brilliant trick performed by a brilliant legilimens, yes, but also the stupidest thing she´d ever done, since the entirety of the illusion ran not only on her own raw power, but on Severus´ as well, and left them both drained afterwards, not to mention paranoid, as they´d spent the entirety of the meeting (fucking long meeting) sneaking glances to the supposedly dead body on the floor and willing the girl not to wake up.

"Where is this Muggle now?" the headmaster asked.

Not moving, he answered" Draco took her to the Cottage"

"Wonderful!" Dumbledore exclaimed.

Severus lifted his head very slowly (because that was all he could manage, his shoulders were at turf war with his back and his neck was caught in the cross fire) to look at his mentor" _Wonderful?_ What are you talking about?"he let his forehead rest on the table edge again, closing his eyes" That moron put her life on the line for some Muggle idiot with no survival instinct"

"Would you rather have her become a murderer?"

There was a pause. Severus opened his eyes and, looking at his pale hands resting together on his lap, almost white over the black cloth of his robes, he thought of two white haired little girls born to taste the bitterness of fate. He raised his face to meet a pair of knowing blue eyes with his own.

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling behind half moon shaped spectacles" I thought so"

"She is reckless"

"Her recklessness and quick thinking saved someone from a horrible fate last night" the headmaster said

"Many people suffered a horrible fate last night" argued Severus". Many were taken from their homes. If her idiotic plan hadn´t worked, she would have been executed, and I would have been doubted of"

"But it worked" Dumbledore said calmly". Her skills with both Legilimency and Occlumency are outstanding. The fact that she could fool the Dark Lord and her own father make me feel even more certain of my decisions so far"

Severus sighed, letting his head drop again" She told me you two have a deal...and it involves Harry Potter"

"Effectively" the old man became serious". I believe the connection between Harry and Voldemort, which until now has appeared to be involuntary, might become dangerous in the future" he paused "Harry´s dreams may be a problem"

Severus snorted" Everything about that brat is a problem. If you are going to try and fix it all, there´ll be no time for anything else"

He could almost feel Dumbledore´s reproving eyes on him" However much you dislike the boy, he remains the key to our success"

"I wonder when our success will come, if it´s in the hands of that jelly-brained child"

"Well, it is in our best interest to help him, then" the old man said". We all need help once in a while, my dear friend, as you well know"

"And how does Draco fit into this?" Severus asked, still not moving" She only said that I´d laugh at her for it, but did not elaborate...which is happening more and more these days"

"You mustn´t worry" Dumbledore advised " Draco is a particularly intelligent young woman, she will see herself through any difficulties" he paused" Which is why I have recruited her to teach Harry how to close his mind to any possible intruders"

This time, Severus did raise his head, and his eyebrows along with it. Incredulous, he asked" You want Potter to learn Occlumency? And you want Draco to teach him?"

"I have faith in my students, Severus" explained the headmaster". I once trusted you to take the right choice. I trust Harry to be able to control his emotions enough to become an occlumens and, most importantly" he shrugged, smiling mischievously", I trust Draco not to bite his head off while teaching him"

"That might proof to be a fool´s hope" Severus told him". We will be shipping Draco off to Azkaban for murder by the end of the week"

"Oh, well, at least then we would have tried" Dumbledore waved it off". It shall never be said of me that I did not do anything for inter-house unity"

Severus chuckled, shaking his head.

Even though it was past midday, no light came through the open windows, which were magically sealed not to let any rain in, and the house was half-lit, it´s secrets concealed by a thick blanket of darkness. The Number 12 of Grimmauld Place was not a regular house, for the magic inhabiting it´s corridors was the kind of magic that made the heart race, every old wound reopening, and every old pain resurfacing with vengeance. Hidden from the world by the Fidelius Charm, the ancestral home of the Black family had become the perfect Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, an ironic development, considering how much the Black family disliked Muggles.

"You must be wondering why I brought you here so soon" Dumbledore said softly, looking out the window at the blackened skies". In light of what you have told me, I believe a rescue mission is in order" he paused". How many Muggles do you think were stolen from their homes?"

"About fifty" Severus told him, the events of the night before coming back to his mind". All of them from the area surrounding Lord Greengrass´ residency. A spell was casted so that their absence was not noticed, so no one will be looking for them"

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully, his eyes not leaving the grey clouds" Were you informed of the reason of their abduction?"

"No" he answered, rubbing his face with his hand". It is a new secret project, I believe only Lucius was informed of it. Lucius is still at Greengrass estate, but Riddle´s already left"

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully again "A scheme known only by the Dark Lord and his second in command... There is much more to this than what meets the eye, I´m afraid. I have called on an Order meeting for tonight" the headmaster´s sigh was a tired one and, for a moment, his face appeared much older than it ever had before", my only hope is that our help reaches those people on time. We must hurry"

Knowing everything the Dark Lord´s second in command could do to the defenceless when given enough time, Severus had to agree.

* * *

"Well, he doesn´t look like he´s going to wake up anytime soon" the female voice said.

"Nonsense!" the jovial male voice answered" I have given him a special tonic that will revive him in no time. The boy is just being lazy"

Harry was certain that they were standing very near him, but the voices sounded very far away. He wanted to tell them that he was awake already, and ask them if they had seen a blond snake around, for he had to go in her pursuit to assassinate her in some painful manner, but all that came out of his mouth was a long, pathetic grunt.

Harry was very disappointed in himself. Moments later, he felt someone pass a wet, foul-smelling rag over his face.

"Now, now, Somewhere" the man chastised gently". I know you want him to awake but I don´t think that is the best way to make him. He´ll wake up soon enough"

Grossed out by the newfound knowledge that a hellhound (what the hell were they feeding him?) was licking his face, Harry tried desperately to open his eyes and push him away at the same time, which at any other time would have been easy, but in his current state felt like an almost impossible task.

"Ahh! See? He is coming back" the man´s face was the first thing he saw when he could finally force his lids open and make it very clear to Somewhere his tongue was not to come within a mile of Harry´s face or else.

The old man´s face was a map of wrinkles and laugh lines, his penetrating black eyes smiling behind square reading glasses, which were resting over a particularly large hooked nose. He smiled pleasantly at Harry while putting a consoling hand between Somewhere´s ears.

"Good evening, young man" he said, ducking his head in greeting as Harry sat up on the couch he´d been lying on". You had me a little worried there, for a moment"

"Yeah, you looked pretty bad" Joan Kevner, who was sitting on a couch near Harry´s, said.

The old man gave Harry a glass of water, which he took gladly with shaky hands" Thank you" he took a sip and instantly felt better " What happened?" he asked as he looked around.

He was in the living room of what he assumed was the house he´d found Malfoy in, sitting on a big couch next to a low wooden table, where the old man was sitting. Across the table, there was another couch, and the Muggle from his dream was sitting on it, covered in thick blankets.

Joan Kevner must have noticed Harry´s worried glances at her, because she shook her head and said" Don´t mind me! Miss Draco told me about you not being...hmm... like regular people"

Looking at her now, Harry could see he hadn´t been wrong before. Joan Kevner was probably about eighteen years old but, sitting there on the old leather couch, she looked like lost little girl, holding on to the thick purple blanket wrapped around her like a security barrier, hiding her bandaged legs.

"I´m sorry I scared you before" Harry said, remembering the expression she´d worn when he and Malfoy had been fighting

She waved him off" No worries, really. I was just surprised, is all" she giggled" When Miss Draco brought you in on Somewhere´s back, I thought she´d killed you"

"Unsurprisingly, I thought so, too" the old man said, taking off his glasses and dropping them on tall a pile of books next to the couch". Her animosity towards you has never been kept a secret around here, after all"

Harry massaged his temples, trying to will the buzzing in his head away" It sure feels like she tried" he muttered". Why did I pass out? She just...bumped heads with me"

"It was nothing out of the ordinary" the old man answered, still smiling", just a side effect of the mind-meld"

"Mind-meld?" Joan Kevner interrupted" Like the ones in Star Trek?" she looked amazed" What are you, people? Like...aliens or something?"

"I am afraid, my dear Joan, that even though I am familiar with and admire Mr. Spock very much, we do not share the same planet of origin" the old man said solemnly". We are from planet Earth, and we are Wizards, as I told you before"

"Right" Joan looked down". It´s a lot to take in"

"There is no need for you to, my child" the old man told her with a smile". Soon enough, when things have calmed, you will return home and, in time, forget our very existence"

They were going to obliviate her as soon as it was possible, then, Harry thought as his glass was refilled with water.

After a pause, Joan smiled back at the old man" Thank you, Lord Snape"

Harry, who had been drinking his water, minding his own business, choked. Somewhere, who´d been relatively quiet, just lying on the floor, took this as a sign to try and lick Harry´s face off again.

"Lord Snape?" Harry got out between coughs, pushing the dog´s head away.

"Effectively" the old...Lord told him, still smiling". I believe you know my son"

"Snape is your son?"

The old man nodded.

Looking at him, he could see that the man did have the nose and his hair, though now salt and pepper, had probably been as black as his eyes, once.

Still, Harry exclaimed" But you look nothing alike!"

Lord Snape nodded at him in understanding" He inherited his mother´s temper, I´m afraid" he said, shaking his head", and his name did not help in the childhood trauma department. I told my dear wife we should have called him something different but no, _he must bear the name of his ancestors_" he rolled his eyes". As if his ancestors would care"

"What is his name?" Joan asked as Lord Snape poured her some more water.

"Severus"

Joan´s eyes widened" You killed him"

"Well, it could have been worse" came the answer". My wife´s grandfather was called _Asman_, after all. I had to set my foot down, there"

Joan laughed, losing some of the nervousness she held about her. Lord Snape smiled once again and the glint in his eyes reminded him of Dumbledore, ancient and wise.

Taking Harry´s distraction as an opportunity, Somewhere jumped onto the couch from his place on the floor. After a little twisting around, and totally ignoring Harry´s protests, the hellhound got himself comfortable with his head on Harry´s lap, somehow managing to fit his huge body into the remaining space.

"As I was saying, Mr. Potter" Lord Snape retook the original line of conversation, pulling a black leather box from underneath the coffee table and looking inside", you passing out was merely a side effect of the mind bonding procedure. I can tell that it was done correctly, however forcibly, because you were under for only two hours"

"Malfoy said that she is supposed to teach me something?" Harry asked rather than stated

"Yes, she mentioned it to me, too" the old man nodded, rummaging through the contents of the box". She must teach you Occlumency, by petition of Albus Dumbledore"

"Do you know him?" asked Harry, suddenly curious". The professor, I mean"

"We have been friends for a very long time" Lord Snape answered". We have been since Hogwarts, and we were partners in crime in many mischievous activities but that, of course, is classified information"

"You went to Hogwarts together?" Harry furrowed his brows. If he´d gone to school with Dumbledore, then this old man was very old indeed" But Snape is your son...?"

"I gave up my priced bachelor status very late in life, you see" he explained" Only when I met my beloved Gertrude did I step back from my adventurous life and settled down, about half a century ago. Little did I know I was about to embark myself on the greatest of adventures..."

"That is so romantic" Joan smiled.

"Oh, yes. My dear Gertrude" Lord Snape sighed, stopping his examination of the box´s content". The light of my very existence... Our life together was many things, but never boring, I can tell you. She could be all four seasons in one day, that one" he smiled and shook his head, resuming his search" Ah, anyway, Mr. Potter, the important thing is that I do know Albus and that he placed your security in our hands for the time being"

"Right" Harry rubbed his face with his hand. Trust Dumbledore, trust him, trust him, trust him.

"Ah, finally, small inanimate object, you´ve eluded me long enough!" Lord Snape exclaimed, pulling out a small brown bottle from the box and holding it out to Harry "Please drink this. It´ll make the headache disappear"

Harry took it but, remembering the usually foul taste of healing potions, sniffed out the contents first. It smelled quite good, actually, like cinnamon, and Harry took an experimental sip" Are you a Potions Master too, sir?"

"I intended to become one, when I was young" Lord Snape said as he pushed the box back under the coffee table with his foot", but studying for long periods of time was never for me. Potions have always been my passion, though, and I passed on my hobby to my son" Harry pulled a face at the mention of Snape and the old man laughed". I assume you do not care about this, since my son´s animosity towards you is the other thing no one keeps a secret around here"

"Around here?" Harry could actually feel his blood rushing away from his face" That means we are in Snape´s house?"

"_Professor_ Snape" Malfoy´s voice corrected from somewhere behind him and he turned around to argue that he had no reason to treat that man with respect, but the words died before they left his lips.

There was no one there.

Harry´s eyes scanned the living/dining room thoroughly, but there was no sign of Malfoy there. No white blond head, no sneering lips, nothing. He held his breath as he thought that maybe he´d lost his mind once and for all, and he absently wondered what would Ron say when he told him that he was hearing Malfoy´s voice in his head. Probably ship him off to St. Mungo´s psychiatric ward.

"Has your head stopped aching?" Lord Snape´s voice got him out of his thoughts. Turning to him, Harry nodded" Draco is waiting for you, then. I think she probably has some better answers to your questions than I do"

As if moved by some sort of spell, Somewhere got up on the couch and jumped off the back, wagging his tail excitedly. Harry sighed, understanding that, for the moment, at least, his life would be reduced to following excited hellhounds around, and got up, waving at a confused Joan and an amused Lord Snape.

The cottage, made entirely out of wood, was very large and rather cosy, very different to what one would expect to be the home of a man who spent his days locked up in dungeons, brewing potions and terrifying children. Somewhere led Harry down a few steps and trough a hallway, all the while looking back to check he was still following, the dog´s long black fur shining with the bright light coming in from the large circular window at the other end, which was big enough to cover the entirety of a wall.

The weather seemed to have composed itself in the time he´d been unconscious, and Harry could hear the chirping of birds get higher as they got closer to the window, the bright light temporarily blinding him. Somewhere jumped through the window that led to the outside world gracefully, and Harry, after a doubtful pause, followed him.

Now this place did remind him of Snape. There was a stone patio surrounded by lots of weird-looking plants and trees, with cages containing rare birds and animals hanging from long, colourful vines here and there, and a wide stone working table in the middle, where Malfoy, who was wearing Muggle clothes, was separating blue flowers from their leaves, piling both components on different piles. Somewhere ran straight to her, sitting next to the standing girl and pressing himself to her side, sighing contentedly when she began scratching his ear.

The table was covered in pots, flasks and bottles, and a huge cauldron was floating over a low fire next to it, dark grey vapour emanating from it´s brewing contents.

"I thought we weren´t supposed to do magic here" said Harry, nodding at the floating cauldron as he walked closer.

"Good to see you awake, Potter" Malfoy greeted without raising her eyes". You can do magic out here, where it won´t affect the stability of the protective barrier" looking up, she added", or scare the Muggle. Please, sit down"

Hearing Malfoy address him so politely gave him the chills, but Harry sat down on the chair across from her nonetheless. Apparently, the truce was still on.

"So..." he started, not certain how to talk to the blond Slytherin now they were at a peace period" That voice I heard before... was it you?"

"Yes" Malfoy answered shortly, still not looking away from her task.

Harry waited uselessly for her to continue, but she spoke no further word, instead throwing a small mountain of blue petals into the brewing potion, reaching inside a box on the floor for more flowers and continuing to separate flowers from leaves, effectively pretending Harry wasn´t there as black bubbles floated upwards from the cauldron.

God, she was annoying.

Malfoy suddenly chuckled, and Harry´s face scrunched up in confusion.

"No wonder Dumbledore is worried" she said". You think too loudly"

Harry´s eyes widened" You are listening to my thoughts?"

_Of course,_ Malfoy´s lips didn´t move. _I can also contribute_

"Stop doing that!" Harry snapped, grabbing his head.

"It´s just an experiment" Malfoy said, looking back at her task" to see if the connection was well made. Occlumency is the art of shutting one´s mind against Legilimency, which is the art of delving into someone´s mind. The headmaster thinks Voldemort´s connection with you may at some point be used to steal information or to control you in some way. These lessons will enable you to fight him off if you ever need to"

Harry nodded thoughtfully "You said that the connection between us was necessary so that Voldemort doesn´t find out that you betrayed him, right?"

"Yes and no" Malfoy paused, seemingly looking for the right words". Now that you are absolutely defenceless to any attempt to your mind and until you master Occlumency, our connection will be sort of a backup. It will enable me to know if anyone is trying to reach into your thoughts and stop them if it´s necessary. Don´t worry, once the lessons are over and you can hide your thoughts from any monkey with a wand you´ll be able to do without it"

Harry paled" And what if I can´t do it?"

"You´ll be stupider than I ever thought you were" she shrugged, and started chopping the flowers with a silver knife" and we will be forced on each other until one of us dies, or until Voldie is defeated, whichever comes first"

Harry stared in horror" I can´t possibly be asked to remain sane having you in my head for so long!"

"It´s a great motivation to finish this up as soon as possible, don´t you think?" a particularly large bubble floated up from the potion, and Harry followed it´s trajectory upwards, desolate.

He sighed" I guess"

"Also" Malfoy began after a pause, looking up at him again", you said that you´d seen me in your dream?"

It sounded more like a statement than a question, but Harry answered anyway" Yes"

She nodded, thoughtful" That makes things more complicated" she stopped chopping for a moment, passing the knife from one hand to the other". You are having dreams about the people he is connected with, too, not only about Voldemort himself"

"And what does that mean?"

Malfoy´s You Are a Moron stare rivalled Snape´s mean eyebrows "It means that it´s expanding" she paused, eyes narrowing". And it´s _Professor _Snape"

"Expanding?" Harry felt all the blood drain from his face, desperately ignoring the fact that she´d read his mind. Again" What do you mean ´_expanding_´?"

"It´s a self-explanatory concept, you know what it means" she went back to her flowers", but the only thing we can do about it start with this shit as soon as possible" the blonde girl tossed the remaining flowers into the cauldron and wiped her hands with an old rag. Walking away from the table, Somewhere in tow, she looked over her shoulder" Coming?"

Suppressing the urge to throw something at her arrogant head, Harry stood up and followed Malfoy, who took him out of the house´s terrain and to the wild field outside. The Cottage was the only residency in sight, surrounded by vegetation of all shapes and sizes, some plants and trees regular, some magical, that Harry could recognize as potion ingredients, and there was no fence to separate it from the back yard, so he assumed no one came by often.

"How long did it take for all of these plants to grow?" he asked in wonder" Did Lord Snape plant them all?"

Malfoy shrugged" The Honourable House of Snape has been here for many centuries" she explained", the very first of the apothecaries ever registered was a Snape, so I guess these have been collected through the ages. The really rare ones are the ones in the backyard, those are Lord Snape and professor Snape´s private collection"

"Wait a minute" a sudden thought occurred to Harry". When I just came in, you said this was your house"

Malfoy glanced at him" It is" she looked back ahead". In many ways, it is"

Just when he´d been about to ask something else, Hedwig, who appeared to have had a blast catching the mice that had been escaping from their flooding burrows, flew to him with the happy version of her usual hoot, landing on his shoulder with practiced ease. Harry petted her fondly, a wide smile involuntarily appearing on his face.

"Damn it, Potter" Malfoy massaged her temples". Have you no restraint? Your happy aura is almost visible!"

"So...rry?" Malfoy stared at him, incredulous, and stopped walking. She sighed" I guess this is as good a place as any. Tell your bird to go, we need to be alone for this" she sat down cross-legged on the grass and looked up expectantly at Harry.

Even though he was slightly unsure, Harry instructed Hedwig to leave. She hooted softly in agreement, nipped his fingers goodbye and flew off to catch some more small mammals for a snack.

"Ok" Malfoy rubbed her hands together, and Harry wondered if he was supposed to feel scared as he sat down on the ground in front of her". The first thing you need to do in order to master Occlumency is to clear your mind. That should come easy for you, since you don´t have much of anything there in the first place"

Harry glared at her, but she raised her wand far too fast for him to say something.

"What are you doing?" he reached for his wand, but Malfoy signalled him not to.

"Clear your mind" she told him". Once you do that, we´ll be able to go on. Just clear your mind, I´ll do the rest"

Harry pointedly stared at her wand until she put it back into her pocket, rolling her eyes. When he saw that there were no more direct threats, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and tried to do what Malfoy told him to.

He´d never tried to clear his mind before. The only thing he could think of that sounded similar was concentrating to cast a spell, but even then his mind seemed to be full of bright colours and sounds, never completely empty. He tried to relax, but Malfoy´s presence did not allow him to, and the more he tried to relieve his mind of every thought the more evident her intrusion became.

He hadn´t noticed it before. It had only become apparent when Malfoy had wanted it to, but now he could feel it there, in the back of his head, a constant buzz of energy he had confused for a headache when he´d woken up. It was different from the connection he had with Voldemort, a connection he could only feel when he was asleep and seemed to be made only with hatred, for it allowed him to feel what the Dark Lord felt, his sick excitements, even if it was only for a second, when the man was at his most savage.

This one felt...clean. Too clean, as in... there was nothing there, only the sizzle of powerful magic that connected him to Malfoy, the person he hated most in the world. He had assumed that the girl´s feelings and animosity towards him would have been reflected on it, but the calmness that radiated from that particular corner of his mind seemed complete and unending, like the surface of the Dark Lake in the spring. Harry was feeling progressively more and more distressed by it, like it was sucking all of his peace of mind in and making it it´s own, feeding the insecurities and fears he´d been trying to keep at bay.

If the bond he had with Voldemort was expanding... it meant Voldemort was growing stronger, more powerful, and no matter how much Harry tried to play fool, he knew.

The dreams, which had started the year before, had been increasing in length, detail and, most of all, frequency and as usual, he´d been the last one to know! How come things always happened like this? If Dumbledore had known, why hadn´t he told Harry? But no, nobody told the little Golden Boy anything, lest it be too much for him and his fragile emotional state.

He´d found out through Malfoy!

What right did Malfoy have to be in his head, even if he had agreed? Why was Dumbledore so sure he could trust her? She was a liar! She was a Death Eater´s daughter! She was probably a Death Eater herself...And now he was stuck in Snape´s house with a Death Eater and a Death Eater´s old father, who could have been lying when he said he knew the headmaster, trapped, absolutely trapped, with a Muggle and a hellhound in the middle of nowhere. In Snape´s house!

"Okay. So, I´m going to take a nap" Malfoy announced suddenly, and Harry opened his eyes just in time to see her lie back on the grass with her arms behind her head, eyes closing". Hearing the gears grinding inside your head is giving me a headache. Wake me up when you are done freaking out about nothing and you decide to actually do what I tell you"

"I´m trying to!" Harry protested.

A grey eye opened to glare at him" No, you are not. You don´t trust me, and you are focusing on that instead of keeping calm. We have a truce, remember?"

"How can we have a truce? I mean, how do I know you are not just lying?"

"Dumbledore doesn´t think I´m lying, does he?" she closed both of her eyes again" You trust Dumbledore, and he trusts me. I guess that´s going to have to be enough for now"

Harry rolled his eyes" Would _you_ trust me?"

"Of course I would" she answered within a second", you are a Gryffindor. You´d rather gnaw your arm off than break a pact"

"And you are a Slytherin" Harry retorted", so you don´t give a damn about pacts. But since there´s no one else to go to and I have no idea where I am, I have no choice, do I?"

"That´s true" Malfoy smirked up at the sky". You´ll have to take a leap of faith, Potter"

Harry closed his eyes again". More like a freefall"

Malfoy laughed.

* * *

Walking through the hallways of Greengrass estate, wand in hand, looking for prisoners in every room and ducking at every corner just in case a Death Eater was waiting for her there was not the way Nymphadora had thought she would spend her first weekend off since she´d started her career as an Auror.

She´d been woken from her twenty-four hour nap on the couch, at about eight o´clock in the afternoon, by an brown owl determinately tapping at her window, hooting grumpily at her slowness as she walked to it. The small, old bird gave her the most evil glare she´d ever received from a non-human being, allowed her to take the short note tied to it´s leg and flew off with an angry hiss that sounded like the owly version of "kids these days..."

Nymphadora hurriedly unrolled the piece of parchment, paling at the familiar penmanship. However much she admired and respected the man, waking up to find out that Mad-Eye Moody had sent her a note to tell her to get the fuck up from the bed and get her ass to the Head Quarters _immediately!_, in those exact terms, was not exactly the best way to start up a Saturday night, hero-worship notwithstanding.

Because she valued her life, thank you very much, Nymphadora had brushed her teeth, combed her hair, gotten dressed, grabbed a bite to eat and apparated to Grimmauld Place in record time, chewing a piece of toast while the Fidelius charm let her in.

Professor Snape´s Your-Mouth-is-Open-And-You-Look-Like-a-Moron Raised Eyebrow greeted Nymphadora at the door of the House of Black, making her feel like a first year all over again, scared to death at the prospect of going all the way down to the dungeons alone to hand in her late homework.

"Good evening" he greeted courtly, stepping back to let her in". I hope you filled in your daily caffeine quota, too, though I am glad you did not make me witness that, as well" Nymphadora snapped her mouth closed, her cheeks and hair both going red. Snape rolled his eyes". Well, what are you waiting for? Come inside. A long night awaits us"

Six hours and a half later, looking for Muggles she wasn´t sure were there in the ugliest house she´d ever been to, Nymphadora could not agree with him more.

"I think this floor is clean" she muttered to no one in particular". Of course, if this place has hidden floors, maybe it also has hidden rooms, so maybe I´m just walking past invisible rooms filled with people"

"That is also a possibility" an amused voice agreed behind her", albeit a very depressing one"

She turned around abruptly, hitting a colourful vase with her cloak and sending it to it´s unavoidable end against the floor. When she saw who was there, she sighed with relief, letting her arm drop.

"Aiden!"Nymphadora hissed, kneeling down to fix the vase she´d broken. They weren´t supposed to be here, after all" You scared me! I thought I´d gotten caught"

Aiden Westbrook, the Order´s newest addition, smiled and ducked his head in apology" I came to let you know that my careful search of this wing of the house has revealed...nothing. There´s no one here"

" Yeah, you´re right" Nymphadora sighed as she put the repaired vase back on it´s table. It looked pretty bad up close, every crack evident on the once smooth ceramic, but she decided no one would notice so it was alright". Maybe they are somewhere downstairs...somewhere we didn´t check"

"Maybe" Aiden´s hazel eyes were clouded and Nymphadora knew she wasn´t the only one who didn´t want to give up the search, no matter how futile it appeared to be. Without another word, they made their way downstairs to meet the others.

Even though the Greengrass estate did not look very big from the outside, it had several floors and rooms, some evident, some hidden by charms and incantations. Professor Snape had made sure to bring them in on the only night the Death Eaters weren´t there, but they didn´t know how much time they had before the house became full again, so they´d decided only four of them would go in, just in case an escape were necessary.

"Over here!" Sirius Black´s call came from somewhere on the second floor and Nymphadora ran to him without thinking, Aiden in tow. They found him in the dining room on the second floor, holding an absent-looking teenage boy up with both arms". There aren´t many of them left... only about a dozen. The others are in there"

Nodding, Nymphadora got to work.

The Muggles had been kept inside room made entirely out of steel, with shelves everywhere, filled with various artefacts similar to the ones she remembered professor Sprout use on occasions to treat plants for potions use. They´d been spell bound and silenced, but they looked frightened and exhausted enough that she doubted they would speak even if the spells were countered.

They took them outside of the house one by one, dissapparating them directly to St. Mungo´s. Dumbledore had already let the healers know of the unusual patients they would receive, and Nymphadora was now certain that that was the best place for these people to be at the moment.

"Eleven people out of fifty" Remus sighed, looking more haggard and tired than usual, as they pulled the last silent Muggle out of the house and gave him to Sirius, who dissapparated with the old lady. Nymphadora had been right: even after they´d lifted the spells, they would not talk". What has been done here is truly atrocious"

"Indeed" Aiden agreed, looking at the place on the lawn where Sirius and the woman had stood only moments before. They were surrounded by fog, which was amazingly common, these days". I managed to get some words out of one of the men...he said that many were taken from the room daily and never came back, while others were just killed unceremoniously and then had their hair cut and blood drained, all in front of the others"

Nymphadora´s stomach rolled. No wonder the Muggles wouldn´t speak" What would they use that for?"

"Human harvest for potions usage?" Remus mused out loud" I cannot think of any other thing those items could be used for"

"My mother used Muggle blood to create the wards at Grimmauld place" Sirius, who had re-apparated without them noticing, said". Any chance they are using it for that?"

"Perhaps" Aiden sighed", but that lets us with the intrigue of what are they trying to protect behind those wards"

"What if there is more people inside this house?" Nymphadora wondered, ignoring those matters in favour of focusing on their current situation" Just because we found those Muggles...it doesn´t mean they are the only ones"

"Does it matter, Nymphadora?" Remus gave her a resigned smile. For some reason, she didn´t mind if he called her by her first name" Even if they are in there, there´s no way for us to find them"

"True" Sirius sighed, looking at the old house with the same hatred and resentment she´d seen in his grey eyes every time he looked upon his own childhood home". Even if they are in there, there´s nothing we can do for them" he paused "It´s time to go back"

One by one, the others dissaparated back to Grimmauld place, but Nymphadora stayed behind, unable to look away from the gothic residency where so many people had been murdered. She knew that, as an Auror, she would one day become familiar with the concept of death, but the truth was that the Dark Arts had always been something that seemed to be far away from her, and it was hard for her to assimilate what it could do to people.

Looking up at the stormy night sky, Nymphadora sighed, knowing that if Mr. Moody found out of what she was thinking about he would probably bite her head off for being weak. She shuddered at the image and poised herself to dissaparate.

"You are leaving so soon?" a mocking voice asked from somewhere behind her". That would be very mean of you, seeing as I just arrived"

Nymphadora turned around to face her opponent, pulling out her wand from inside her pocket with practised ease. From the fog that obscured the street came out a woman she recognized from various pictures she´d seen on her mother´s old albums, as well as on the Daily Prophet occasionally, and her mind formed the name in a second: Bellatrix Lestrange.

"A lost bird, huh, Bellatrix?" Lucius Malfoy said as he appeared next the woman" That will give you the entertainment you´ve been seeking" a yellow light emerged from his wand and flew upwards, creating a circle around them and their surrounding area, effectively jinxing the place so that no one could dissaparate from it.

Shit.

Other figures emerged from the mist, five, eight, twelve masked Death Eaters, all of them with their wands extended. They were close to her, really close, close enough to see her bright black eyes go wide with irrational fear, and Nymphadora´s face and hair went white as snow, on the first day of the first snow, in a place very far away, where no man had ever set foot on.

The others would think nothing of her absence, thinking perhaps she´d apparated back to her apartment instead of Head Quarters, and the first time anyone would notice her disappearance would be on Monday, when she failed to arrive at work.

She was screwed.

Heart in her throat, Nymphadora felt she might drown in the silence. Her hand gripped her wand so hard she thought it might crack, but she could not say a word. There was nothing to say; even her aunt knew that, with her thin lips curled in a malicious smile; nothing to do.

But then Bellatrix raised her wand up a fraction, a the smile seeming to stretch from one of her ears to the other.

And the Auror Nymphadora Tonks did the only thing she could actually do.

She bolted.

* * *

Harry landed on the bed he´d started to think of as his with a grunt, her eyes closing as soon as his back touched the soft mattress. Somewhere, who´d taken a liking to spending time with him at night, or when Malfoy was busy chopping stuff in the back yard, curled his massive body beside him on the bed, pressing his head to Harry´s arm. He sighed, petting the animal lazily as he tried to stay awake.

A week into his "lessons" with Malfoy he still hadn´t been able to master the first step to occlumency, often coming close but not really managing to clear his mind from every thought.

Malfoy, forever the thorn on his side, annoyed the hell out of him by not annoying him. For the past week, she´d kept the weird polite attitude towards him, not insulting him at every chance she got and simply remaining silent and calm instead of mocking him when she saw he could not meet her request. That, of course, was even more bothersome than anything else she could have done, and Harry found himself thinking of this strange development instead of clearing his mind when he was in her presence.

Their bond, as Lord Snape liked calling it just to annoy him, was another source of stress. The simple fact that Malfoy was constantly tuned in on what he was thinking made him feel invaded, violated, even, and the fact that the corner of his mind destined to it was incessantly calm didn´t help, as it was completely opposite to what the rest of his mind was at the moment.

Also, if Malfoy told him to address Snape with respect one more time, verbally or otherwise, he might just punch her.

He had to admit, though, that where the nightmares had been coming to him almost every night, before, for the past week his sleep had been free of them. He wondered if it was Malfoy´s doing, if she was taking them away, or if she was somehow filtrating them so that they wouldn´t come into his subconscious.

It could also be, as Lord Snape had signalled, that he was too tired for his brain to generate any dreams. The truth was that not even the most tiresome of Quidditch practises had been as exhausting as five hours straight of trying to force himself into blankness.

_At least I´m not bored anymore_, he thought, and smiled when Somewhere yawned loudly next to him.

Now, that was true.

Even though life at the Cottage was not very different from life at any other Muggle home, what with the no magic rule, the simple knowledge that there was even the possibility of magic around him was enough to make him feel at home.

Lord Snape, who was absolutely nothing like his son, spent all day long helping Joan on her recovery, slowly healing her broken legs with potions and brews, and telling her stories about his youth to distract her from the pain. Harry often sat near them to listen, enjoying the tales of adventure that seemed to be taken directly from a story book.

Joan was marvelled by the magical world that had always been hidden right under her nose, and regaled the old man with explanations for several Muggle sayings the man was unsure about, as well as narrations from her everyday life, which seemed to satisfy Lord Snape´s vast curiosity for the non-magical world.

Malfoy spent her time avoiding him, going to the back yard to brew potions most of the day, only coming inside to cook lunch and dinner, meals which she cooked with amazing skill. Even though Harry had been dubious over if the food was poisoned or not, Malfoy´s very serious indication of _starve to death, then_ had made him rethink his doubts, and he´d thrown caution to the wind in favour of fulfilling his appetite.

The lessons began every day after dinner, on the field outside of the house, and lasted for an eternal amount of five hours, spent with Harry sitting cross-legged on the grass next to a sleeping Malfoy, who´d taken to napping while he closed his eyes and tried to make his thoughts disappear. He knew, however, that she wasn´t really sleeping, for there was always an open grey eye looking at him when he opened his own green ones.

Harry wasn´t very sure how she kept track of time, but every night at two in the morning she´d get up and walk back to the house, not waiting for him to follow.

He would stay behind for while, looking up at the sky, wondering what he was supposed to do with this strange situation he was in. Eventually, Somewhere would come for him, licking at his face and pressing his cold nose on every patch of skin he could find, signalling that the time to go inside had come.

Harry sighed, reaching for the covers piled up at the foot of the bed and pulling them over himself. Somewhere, sensing that he was no longer welcome in the small bed, whined pitifully but jumped off the mattress, running off to wherever he spent his nights on.

If Malfoy were her usual nasty self, at least he would have some familiar pattern to fall back on, but ever since he´d arrived here she´d been so very different from that that she almost seemed like a different person, carrying a grey aura of misery around herself like a cloak.

Even after Cedric had died, when the Slytherin had saved him from the fake Alastor Moody, she´d mocked him and insulted him with her usual ease, but now she seemed to be holding herself back and, after that initial day of pacts and explanations, Harry had noticed that she almost never looked him in the eye.

But why? Was it a trap? If there was something Harry knew about the Slytherin girl was that she loved hearing her own voice, so a silent Malfoy could not mean anything good.

Harry rolled himself to his side, and tried to fall asleep, but the questions wouldn´t stop nagging him, the constant buzz of magic from the connection ever present on the back of his mind.

That was when he felt it, a pain much greater than anything he´d felt before, like the full blow of the Cruciatus curse concentrating solely on the scar on his forehead. Harry pressed his hand to it, hard, biting his lip not to scream and tasting the tang of blood on his mouth. His mind, drowsy with near sleep only moments before, was bombarded with images and feelings, scents and sensations, and irrational fear threatened to overcome him.

He could see a foggy street, and a pink haired woman... a witch. And Death Eaters, many of them, the woman was alone, and he could feel her desperation buzzing in his ears, the certainty that there was nothing left to do, nothing but run, escape... no fighting this.

Harry rode the wave of terror like fuel, getting up from the bed and picking up his wand from the bedside table on the way, running to the door as fast as he could. The adrenalin coursing through his veins allowed him to see nothing but his destination, and he´d crossed all the hallways and was out of the sleeping house in no time, jumping down the front door steps two at a time and sprinting to a particular part of the wild field.

"Lumos!"

The tip of his wand lightened up and illuminated the dark of the night, making the figures of the trees stand out grotesquely, but Harry ignored them. He got on all fours and searched the high grass, grinning triumphantly when he found the lamp. Gripping it tightly, he thought of the narrow alley awaiting him in London and closed his eyes, feeling the now familiar pull behind his navel and the feel of being squeezed through a rubber tube.

When he opened his eyes, he was in the small crack between two buildings on Apothecary Street. Locating the way out, Harry ran to the outside, his wand clutched tightly on his right hand, following his gut, for he unexplainably knew exactly where to go.

With his heart racing frantically in his chest, Harry found himself standing in the middle of the abandoned street outside the alley. He closed his eyes, and made a decision.

Left.

He opened his eyes, and started running.

* * *

"Fucking Gryffindor!"

Miss Draco, Joan decided, could swear with more sentiment than anyone else in the entire world. Her curse travelled from the room upstairs to Joan´s own, the one occupied by Harry, through every hallway and down the stairs, bouncing off the walls and waking every other person in the house.

Joan could hear the blond girl jumping down the stairs, the sound of her heavy boots hitting the floor resounding louder as she got closer to the door of her room.

"That fucking moron! What the hell was he thinking?"

A string of curses followed this one all the way to the front door, along with Somewhere´s pants and the sound of his claws scratching the floor as he dutifully trailed behind his mistress.

For a moment, Joan contemplated going after her to ask what was wrong, but the sound of the door slamming closed pushed her to decide that, whatever it was, it wasn´t any of her business, and it was much too late at night to deal with it anyway.

Sighing contentedly at her own resolution, she rolled over and fell back asleep.

* * *

His lungs were burning with the effort, as were his legs, but Harry ignored them as he blindly ran through the streets of London, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his forearm, and cursing himself for not bringing his glasses. His head was bursting with images and strange sensations; it was almost like one of his nightmares, only they´d never come to him while he was awake before.

Somehow, he just knew where he had to go, where to turn and where to continue on, even though he was certain he´d never been in this part of town before. He knew that the pink haired woman was running to the edge of town, followed by a group of Death Eaters, and that he was near them. Harry ran as fast as he could, trying to find some sort of tangible sign other than what his instinct told him, but finding nothing other than the feel of magic sizzling through the mist.

Only now did Harry notice that the foul weather and the almost constant fog that had been like a plague everywhere he went was not a normal development, since he could now see that the centre of it, the place from where it seemed to be sprinting from, was the place where he was going, and the sense of foreboding became greater as he moved forward.

The cold floor was numbing his bare feet, and Harry cursed his stupidity at not remembering to put on any shoes when he stepped on a particularly sharp stone, ducking into an alleyway to check on the sole of his right foot, which now sported an ugly-looking gash.

"Episkey!" Harry whispered, pointing his wand at it. As he´d expected, the gash closed instantly, leaving healed white skin behind. Resting his back against the brick wall, Harry tried to calm his breath, knowing that it would be impossible for him to find the woman in such a state. He needed to go on, she was somewhere around here...

_Stay right where you are, you idiot!_ Malfoy´s voice cut through his thoughts like a sharp knife, and Harry´s head was flooded by the sudden torrent of magic coming out of the bond, grounding him in place.

"Stop...it!" Harry cried out, clutching head. The excruciating pain Malfoy´s will keeping him immobile brought to his entire body was almost unbearable, but he still tried to fight her.

_If you didn´t fight, it wouldn´t hurt!_

"Get out!" Harry screamed, sliding to the floor" I have to save her!"

_You can´t, moron, they´ll kill you!_

"I have to try! Let me go!"

_Why?_

Because of all the others he hadn´t been able to save; because of all the people that would be alive if he were just a little bit stronger; because of that old man, the cemetery keeper; because of...

In that moment, Harry came up with an idea. It was by far the most terrible thing he´d ever thought of, but he had to do it. He had to save that woman, whatever it took, and so he focused with all of his might in a memory he´d been trying very hard to forget.

_Harry, what is it?_

_Get back to the cup!_

_Who are you? What do you want?_

_Kill the spare!_

_Avada Kadavra!_

_No! Cedric!_

He threw the bundle of feelings and memories directly to the corner of his mind where he knew his connection with Malfoy was, making sure not to let anything out.

_...and tell Draco that I love her._

He took Malfoy´s sudden astonishment as a chance to break free from her hold, and Harry once again broke to a dead run following the misty street, which he knew would lead him directly to the Death Eaters. Even though he´d been expecting her to take hold of him once more, the bond went calm and silent, and Harry felt like he was once again alone in his own mind.

The feeling he´d been getting from the pink haired woman was gone as well.

Harry kept on running anyway, following the deserted street and clutching at his wand like a lifeline, the silence all around threatening to drown him. His leg muscles were burning, his heart was racing, his lungs stinging from taking in so much cold air. He´d been running for about ten minutes when he felt heavy raindrops fall on him, cold on his heated skin, and he was drenched within moments.

Just when he´d began thinking that he would never find them, Harry heard an explosion. He stopped. It came from the street parallel to the one he was standing on...

With renewed hopes, Harry rushed to a visible crack between two buildings, hoping it would lead him to the other side. It was a narrow alleyway, but not narrow enough to make him feel uncomfortable, so he ran as fast as he could, avoiding several stray cats that seemed determined to scratch him in any way possible for disrupting their sleep. Finally, he reached the other end, which gave him an excellent view of the street and, pressing himself against one of the brick walls, he watched.

The pink haired woman wasn´t bad. She was keeping the masked Death Eaters at bay single-handedly, backing off as far as she could each time she casted a spell, but everybody here knew she was the loser. There was no way for someone to battle so many dark magicians... at least not alone.

Harry waited until the woman threw a fire charm directly to the pavement to delay her chasers momentarily, forming a line of flames that cut the street in two. She tried to run away in the time it took the Death Eaters to stop the fire, but she´d only made a few meters when one of them, a woman, it seemed, jumped through the flames and hurled another curse at her retreating opponent, her evil laughter echoing in the silent night.

"Come on back, little birdie!" she called as the pink haired woman miraculously dodged" The fun has only just started!"

The Death Eater started running behind the woman, laughing all along, as the others came through the fire and did the same.

She wouldn´t make it alone, Harry thought, it was time to come out.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped out of the alley, but before he could take even a step forward, he felt himself go immobile by someone´s spell. He tried to move, but it was impossible, and he watched, amazed, as a huge wall came up from the ground and positioned itself between the escaping woman and her attackers. He remembered that from professor Flitwick´s class... Merlin´s Wall, a magical barrier that was impossible to penetrate.

The immobilization spell was lifted as Harry heard the Death Eater woman´s cry of frustration, but before he could even say anything, he found himself pressed against the brick wall once again, this time with a cold hand covering his mouth, faced with a pair of stormy grey eyes packed with so much cold fury that Harry knew, right then, that that would be the last night of his life.

With a low whine and a disinterested yawn, Somewhere agreed.

* * *

Nymphadora ran as fast as she could, screaming like crazy because she was going to die so fuck it. She ran until her legs burned, then ran some more, until she reached a part of town she wasn´t familiar with.

She really didn´t want to turn around... this was it! She was going to die! She was going to die like a coward, running away from a fight, but even though it was embarrassing, she could not stop.

Reaching a deserted park, her body showed her that she was very wrong, she could very much stop. In fact, she was going to stop right _now_.

Her legs gave out and she fell to the floor with a loud thump, the sound of her heart pumping loud in her ears.

Crap.

Panting heavily, she looked behind her, absolutely resigned to whatever was waiting for her...

There was no one there.

"Tonks!"

Scratch that, there was someone there.

Aiden was running to her, panting loudly, his long brown robes swirling in the wind.

Nymphadora stared "Aiden..."

"Here you are!" he said, finally reaching her, resting his hands on his hips and letting his head fall back" I´ve been looking for you since you didn´t show! I heard screams and followed them" he cocked his head to the side "Why were you running?"

"I was...I... They..."

She didn´t know how to start, or how t explain what had just happened. How the hell had she escaped? She´d been certain she was going to die... Bellatrix had been right behind her! Something...someone had saved her!

"Do you mind if we apparate back to HQ before you tell me?" Aiden asked, short of breath" I think I need a glass of water"

"Yeah..." Nymphadora whispered after a pause, still looking down the way she´d just come from" Yeah. Let´s do that"

* * *

Never in his life had Harry thought he´d ride through the streets of London on a hellhound, watching the city whirl by as the rain stopped falling, with his arms wrapped around the waist of a silently fuming Malfoy for security, because he was not going to ask her to make Somewhere run any slower, damn it!

The corner of his mind destined to his connection with Malfoy was once again calm and silent, completely devoid of any feeling, thought or magic, and Harry knew this was only because she wanted it to appear that way, he knew she could feel every bit of the guilt that was currently eating at his conscience.

Now, as his pulse slowed down and the burning on his legs quenched, the full meaning of what he had done slapped him across the face much harder than Hermione ever had and Harry, trying very hard not to apologize, because he knew that would be suicide, avoided that particular train of thought as they made their way back to the Port-key.

His travel companion had an almost visible aura of absolute hatred and anger surrounding her, Harry could almost feel the waves of _die, you bastard _hit him on the head like rocks. Surely, a drenched, petite girl wearing red hiking boots and a pink nightgown underneath a flowery blue cloak had no right to be so menacing.

Malfoy hadn´t even said a word, just gotten on Somewhere´s back and her eyes had growled _get on, or else_, and every object on his direct vicinity had trembled in fear under the force of that death glare. Harry, who had pretty good survival instincts, in spite of what everyone said, had silently climbed on behind her. As soon as his feet left the ground, Malfoy whistled, and the hellhound had begun running at speed much faster than any earth vehicle Harry had ever boarded.

They reached Apothecary Street in no time. Malfoy hopped off first, but waited for Harry to duck into the crack first with a perfectly calm expression on her face, and a little voice in the back of his mind screamed _bloody murder! Don´t turn your back on her!_ But Harry, driven by guilt, ignored all of his instincts and went in first. He could feel Malfoy´s grey eyes on his neck the entire way to the Port-key, and her silence was oppressing him more than the dark alley, barely lit by his wand.

Harry reached the lamp and touched it, waiting until Malfoy and Somewhere did the same to picture the Cottage in his mind. The pull on his navel came closely followed by the feeling of being sucked through a rubber tube, which came closely followed by the feeling of new surroundings materializing around him, which in turn was followed by the feeling of someone punching him hard on the nose and then toppling him over to the wet grass, placing themselves over him to punch him again.

"Malfoy! Wait!" Harry said, rolling them over and trying to pin her arms down. She would have none of it, pushing his hands away and landing an elbow to his nose.

"You fucking bastard!" she snarled, taking advantage of his distraction to roll them over again" What the hell is wrong with you? Not only do you make me take a midnight trip down town, you give me a fucking flashback of my boyfriend´s death?"

"I´m s..." Harry tried to apologize, but Malfoy interrupted

"It was the only way!" Harry explained, reaching out for her arms again, feeling blood pour out of his probably broken nose" I had to save her!"

"Oh, come on! Don´t throw your hero crap at me!" for a moment, Harry thought she might hit him again, but she pushed herself up to her feet as she continued speaking" You went out and almost got yourself killed, moron!"

"Why do you care?" Harry got up as well, albeit much more slowly and less fluidly, pressing his hand to his nose.

Malfoy cocked her head to the side, looking at him incredulously" Well, I don´t know" she shrugged". Maybe because you are Harry-fucking-Potter and Dumbledore told me to keep you alive?"

For some reason, the fact that Dumbledore thought he needed protection (and from Malfoy, of all people) made Harry´s blood run hot through his veins, and he clenched and un-clenched his jaw in an effort to ease some of the familiar anger people thinking of him as a child brought.

Malfoy, of course, caught on to it, and a vicious little smirk formed itself on her pointy face.

"Oh, that doesn´t frustrate you, does it?" she drawled out, her eyebrows furrowing" It doesn´t make you mad, or angry?"

"Shut up, Malfoy" Harry said through gritted teeth, his hands fisting at his sides, his knuckles going white.

Malfoy laughed.

"Well, of course it does!" she laughed some more" Fuck, Potter, I didn´t even have to read your mind to catch that!" she placed her hands on her hips" Is that why run across the city at night, looking for damsels in distress? Because it makes you feel like a grown up?"

Harry closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, trying to keep in control" It wasn´t like that"

"Well, let me guess" Malfoy said": you had a nightmare, or a dream, or a telepathic alert or whatever the fuck you call them, and you decided to act on it, not thinking that, oh, I don´t know, it could have been a trap? Do you really understand nothing of what people tell you? You could have died!"

"And what if I did?" Harry snapped, all false pretence of calmness forgotten" What if I died? Why do you care? Why is my life worth keeping for?"

"What for?" Malfoy had clearly had a banshee for breakfast, her angry, hateful snarl leaving a distinct ringing in Harry´s ears" What´s the point in saving her if you die? If you die, it´s all for nothing!"

Why the hell did everybody keep doing that?

Dumbledore, Hagrid, Ginny, Ron, Hermione...They spoke of him as if he were more important than the rest of people, as if he, somehow, could make things better, when he truthfully had no idea what to do most of the time. Something inside Harry, something that had been slightly loose for a while, snapped in that moment, and he felt a distinct need to break something, to throw something made of glass against a wall and hear it shatter.

Since there was no object with those characteristics in his direct surroundings, Malfoy´s face, he decided, would have to do.

He packed all of his anger and frustration against the world in one punch that sent Malfoy a few steps back. She clearly hadn´t been expecting it, her wide, incredulous eyes fixating on him as she raised her hand to her right eye, where a large bruise was beginning to form, but before Harry could even muster enough presence of mind to feel sorry or apologize, she retaliated with a firm cross to his jaw, and what had begun as a violent argument ended up as a proper, out-and-out fist fight.

So much for the truce.

For some reason, this violent display of brute force and fierceness made Harry feel calmer in a way he knew wasn´t very healthy, and using his height and weight advantage he managed to pin a furious Draco Malfoy to the ground, catching her flailing arms (which were much stronger than they appeared, by the way) and pressing them over her head with his own.

"Enough!"

Malfoy seemed to have calmed down some too, but it took the both of them several minutes (and deep breaths) to speak again, the peaceful silence of the field disrupted by their heavy pants.

Naturally, Malfoy broke the silence first.

"And well?" the girl asked, not even struggling, looking at him with her grey eyes wide open, her white-blond hair surrounding her head like a halo, glowing slightly when the moon beams managed to come through the thick clouds and hit the silvery strands" Why did you want to save her?"

Harry looked into those eyes, and thought of himself.

Or maybe not.

Maybe...maybe he thought of who he was in other people´s eyes.

Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, saviour of mankind and the only one who had succeeded in defeating Lord Voldemort, achievement that had proved to be completely useless, since he hadn´t been able to stop his return. He had been such a vital part of his resurrection, in the end, his blood the final component of the potion that had finally brought him back, more powerful than ever.

The boy whose mental health was so very unstable no one ever told him anything, no one ever told him the truth. The boy who had been the hero of a tale for four years, yet suddenly had become just another player, because no one believed his words.

Harry Potter, the Boy Who Failed. The boy who, for everything that was said of him, hadn´t even been able to save his schoolmate.

That was the reason why...he´d wanted to save her.

Harry got so lost in his thoughts, so confused as he gazed into those stormy eyes, that he didn´t notice Malfoy had sneaked an arm out of his grip until he felt the punch to his jaw make his brain do a little dance inside his skull.

The Slytherin took the chance to push him to the side and straddle his hips, reversing their positions to once again make eye contact with him.

"Saint Potty" she said with no humour". You really are a fucking self-pity fest. Look at you: pathetic. I can´t even throw a proper insult, it would be like kicking a puppy"

"And what about you, ferret?" Harry retorted, feeling a strange sort of satisfaction from this old routine" You go around the house all day long, moping, brewing stuff in the back yard because you can´t stand to see me. What does that make you?"

Malfoy´s perfectly straight eyebrow rose an inch" Good point" she conceded.

Sighing, she sat up, still straddling Harry´s hips". Since our truce didn´t work, I propose you a deal:" her lip was split and bleeding, and there was a large, purple bruise around her right eye, but she still made it sound official": I will stop moping if you, in turn, stop the self-pity act. In addition, I commit myself to turn you into a reasonably good occlumens if you agree to the second part"

Harry frowned" How will that help you in any way?"

"As you well know, I am tuned in to your every thought" she explained", and having a twenty four hour stream of how much the world hates you is like having a one-channel TV that only airs My Left Foot. Really, it´s depressing"

Harry rolled his eyes, and was about to reply, but then Malfoy added "Although, a little pornographic material starring Cho Chang was aired, too. That was" she paused thoughtfully, smirking at Harry´s positively crimson blush" interesting"

"I see your point" Harry gritted out, suddenly wishing the earth would split open and swallow him whole

Mlfoy held out her little finger.

"Deal, then?"

Harry held out his own pinkie and entwined it with hers.

"Deal"

"I hope this is not what it appears to be"

Harry and Malfoy both raised their heads to the sound of Lord Snape´s voice. The old man was standing a few meters away, illuminated by his wand, wearing striped yellow Muggle pyjamas under a heavy green leather cloak. Somewhere was sitting next to him, panting heavily, having evidently ran to the house to let his master know that they were fighting.

Harry then looked up at Malfoy, and turned an even deeper shade of red, realizing that she was only wearing her pink nightgown, for she had shed her cloak sometime during the fight, and they were wet from the rain, and they were really close, and she was still straddling his hips, and he knew what, exactly, they appeared to be doing.

Judging for Malfoy´s widened grey eyes and gaping mouth, she´d realized too.

Oblivious to their embarrassment, Lord Snape carried on" If it is what it appears to be, I trust you are aware of the necessary protective spells. If it is not, well, so long as you don´t kill each other, please carry on. Honestly, Somewhere, I don´t see why you woke me up so urgently..."

That said, the old wizard walked back up-hill to his house, deeply in conversation with the loyal hellhound that trailed behind him.

* * *

**Hello!**

**This is not what was going to happen in this chapter, but a friend of mine who´s reading it told me that if I´m going to write violent (more violent) stuff, I should warn you guys first, so...**

**Even though most of them are late, here are the...**

**WARNINGS: foul language, violence, possible sexual situations (not yet, though, and nothing very graphic), character deaths (not many) and other situations which may not be everybody´s cup of tea, like torture, fights, foul language, etc. **

**Also, I would like to add that the characters are property of J.K. Rowling, etc, etc.**

**Thank you for giving my story your time!**

**P.S.: Leí un par de reviews que estaban en español y quería agradecerlas! Me alegra mucho que el fic te guste :)**


	4. Chapter 4

_"Picking up the ticket shows there's money to be made_  
_Go on and lose the gamble that's the history of the trade_  
_Did you add up all the cards left to play to zero_  
_And sign up with evil_  
_Angeles"_

_"Angeles", by Elliot Smith_

* * *

Harry hated cold water. It reminded him of the Black Lake, and the desperation he´d felt when he´d been pulling Ron and Gabrielle along to the surface, how certain he´d been that something would happen, that a Grindylow would grab his leg, that the gillyweed would stop working, that he wouldn´t be able to make it, because the surface seemed to be getting further away in time with every one of his desperate kicks.

It wasn´t that he was phobic or anything like that, it was just that, after everything that had happened, he didn´t like the memories the freezing liquid evoked.

And so when, after a nice, nightmare-free sleep, Harry was woken up with a bucket of cold water, he rolled over violently, falling to the floor next to the bed with an unmanly squeak of surprise.

Wide eyed and spluttering, he looked up at blurry Malfoy, who still held the empty bucket but was standing in a very portrait-like way, looking as noble and poised as usual, even though she was petting an excited Somewhere one handed as he panted.

"Get up, now" the blond girl ordered, throwing his glasses to the edge of the bed, where they were in close reach for him.

"I´m up" Harry said, sitting on the floor in a tangled mess of sheets ". I happen to get up every time someone throws water on me"

"That was revenge for last night´s excursion "Malfoy informed him lightly, but the raging storm in her eyes said otherwise. Harry clamped his mouth shut" I have an idea, so throw your pants on and let´s go"

With that said, she left him alone with Somewhere, who seemed to be laughing in his own language at the fact that Harry was not only sitting on the floor like a wet rag doll, but that he was also wearing nothing but his boxers and a t-shirt, since he´d been too tired to change pyjamas the night before.

"Brilliant" he muttered as he got up and put on his glasses. Stumbling around the room, he hurriedly put on his clothes, getting out the door and following Malfoy, who hadn´t even reached the stairs yet ". Where are we going?"

"It´s a surprise" the blond girl threw over her shoulder sarcastically

"There any chance I can brush my teeth first?"

"Sorry, Potter. Lazy bastards are forever condemned to have stinky breath" she told him as they made their way down the stairs, Somewhere trailing behind them, wagging his tail. Harry sighed.

The dining table was covered in open books and pieces of written parchment, and long unrolled scrolls littered the floor. This, conbined with the dark circles under Malfoy´s eyes and Somewhere hyperactive way of skipping to the door gave Harry the feeling that neither of them had gotten any sleep, but he didn´t comment on it, following the girl outside without a word.

The storm from the night before had cleared the air, making it easier to breathe, even though the sky was still covered with a thick blanket of grey clouds. The grass and the plants were moist from the rain and, sitting on the thicker tree branches they could find, songbirds ruffled up their feathers in an attempt to dry them. Shivering from the cold in spite of his heavy sweater, Harry followed Malfoy, who was taking him much further away from the house than they usually went.

The meadow stretched beyond sight in every direction, the Cottage seeming to be the centre of this wild land. Some patterns could be discerned in the vegetation, if one were to pay close attention, and Harry could see that some of the species were enclosed by rocks and signalled with marks much too old to be understood. Malfoy lead him to a patch of earth that was not covered in grass but in small, grey stones, which crunched audibly under their feet as they walked.

"Here we are" she muttered softly in the hellhound´s ear and, with a low whine of disappointment but no other complaint, Somewhere ran off back to the house, disappearing from Harry´s sight. Malfoy sat down crossed legged on the ground and motioned for him to do the same". In order to keep your mind closed for other people, you must clear it entirely" she recited as Harry sat down a little doubtfully ", but, as we have seen, you doing that is like trying to sneeze with your eyes open"

"It´s not as if you´ve been trying to teach me that much" Harry remarked sullenly, thinking of the fact that in the years to come he´d have not one, but two maniacs bonded to his brain.

Malfoy continued as if he hadn´t spoken "Last night, prior to our little joyride, mind you, I had been thinking of a different approach that I think might suit you better, because this one is not working, so it might be a good idea to change tactics and if you don´t stop feeling guilty this instant, Potter, I will claw off your arm and beat you to death with it!"

Harry tried, he really did, but he could not help it. What he´d done was beyond forgiveness, the reason for his actions did not matter. The fact was that he had manipulated somebody in the most terrible way to achieve his objective, not caring about the consequences.

"I´m sorry. What I did...It was cruel. I´m sorry" he said sincerely, because he really was and he wanted Malfoy to know, but she merely rolled her eyes at him.

"You are an amateur" she said, her restless fingers playing with grey stones ". You´re not supposed to apologise when you do something cruel...it takes all the poetry away!" she shrugged "You did what you thought you had to, and the damsel in distress was saved in the end, so that´s it"

"But..." Harry started and Malfoy glared at him, her vibrant grey eyes shining with murder.

"Don´t" she said. It was only one word, spoken coldly, and Harry felt a door slamming on his face, because the air was suddenly colder, and sizzling with magic, but Malfoy took a deep breath, and the moment was over. Looking down, she muttered, like". Just don´t"

Several deep breaths later, she spoke again, as if nothing had happened "It gave me an idea" she threw a stone at him and Harry caught it, tossing it back without a thought "You found yourself in a situation where you needed a way out, and you did that first thing that occurred to you, which gets me thinking that you suck at doing things alone. You shouldn´t let Granger do all the thinking, you´re a little slow"

"Well, thank you"

"Shut up and let me finish" Malfoy ordered calmly, and carried on, gesticulating with her hands ". The thing is, I suck at team work. That´s why Occlumency is so easy for me, because closing people out is what I do best. You, on the other hand" seeking for the right words, with one hand juggling with a stone and the other pointing at him, she continued after a pause ", can´t. You let people in. That´s why it was so easy to create our mind-bond, ´cause you´re like an open book, and that´s what we´re going to take advantage of"

Malfoy was talking fast, without stopping to breathe, and she was juggling three stones around now, like a lunatic. When she set eyes straight on Harry, he thought that she looked crazy, but a line he´d read on Dumbledore´s letter came back to him so that he could see it in a way he hadn´t been able to see it before.

_Times of hardship await us. Do not waste the opportunities fate gives you if you can use them at your advantage._

Harry knew now that this was what the Headmaster referred to. This weird deal he´d struck with this crazy girl outside a country house while having a fist fight in the mud...

He sighed, and nodded, because Malfoy was looking at him questioningly, like a dare. _Can you? _those eyes asked, the question inside them mirroring the one that was ringing inside his head.

And so Harry answered. _Yes, _he thought, loud and clear, _I can._

Malfoy grinned the scariest grin he´d ever seen, and carried on talking while she juggled a progressively larger amount of rocks "Alright. So, the mind is like a huge storing department, filled with files that you collect all along during your life. The way that those files are arranged has a lot to do with how easy or hard it is to penetrate it and find the exact file you are looking for. The reason why the first thing you need to do to stop people gazing inside your head is to clear your mind is because only when you have ridden yourself of useless thoughts you can see what this person is looking for and not let them get it"

One by one, eight rocks hit the ground with a rattle and Harry followed each one´s descent with his eyes, only looking back up at Malfoy when she began speaking again.

"The thing is that each mind is different, and since you have a knack for making things complicated, we´ll have to do this differently than it is usually done"

"How?" Harry asked, because he had to. There was a creepy glint in Malfoy´s eyes that he didn´t like at all, similar to the twinkle Hermione got when she was presented with a particularly complicated assignment.

"Easier done than said, I think" she answered enigmatically, and Harry wanted to punch her but contained himself ". Since I don´t think anybody´s ever done this, we´re going a little blindly, but not to worry: I am brilliant"

Harry rolled his eyes "Can we skip this part?"

"Of course not!" came the indignant reply "The annals of history shall forever remember me as the genius that that taught Harry Slow Potter how to keep his thoughts to himself! Songs about my great achievement shall be sung for centuries and centuries... Rolling your eyes too hard might cause a strain, Potter"

"It´s a side effect from spending time with arrogant bitches" Harry answered automatically

"As fun a round of insults might be, we have a task at hand" Malfoy said calmly, gathering some new stones to juggle with ". Since the mind-clearing was a fiasco, we´ll start with something different" she paused ": go to your happy place"

Harry stared "That is your great idea? Are you kidding?"

This time, Malfoy rolled her eyes "I know it sounds like cheap hypnotism, but it´s not. Just do it. Once you´re there, I´ll show you the way. If I can show you exactly how to block out external threats from the inside, then you´ll have no problem doing it in the future, even if you never master the "clear your mind" bit"

"Is this the part when I´m supposed to trust you?" Harry asked after a pause

Malfoy smirked "As I told you before, Potter" she shrugged ". You´ll have to take a leap of faith"

Her eyes held the same challenge they´d held before, glistening with the same colour as the grey clouds.

_Can you? _

He wondered, for a moment, if he could. Could he open himself up to this girl? Draco Malfoy, his sworn enemy, the first person he´d actually _hated_. She´d mocked him and his friends, insulted his parents, and had proven to be the worst kind of insufferable, arrogant bully he´d ever encountered, and yet...

This war against Voldemort went beyond any sort of petty rivalry; this war was everyone´s.

And they were going to win. No matter what.

_Yes, I can. _Harry thought, and closed his eyes.

In the silence of the grey morning, he could distinctly hear the sound of the small grey stones clinking together as Malfoy continued to juggle.

* * *

Severus picked up the paper cautiously and eyed the second page, even though something inside of him told him _don´t don´t don´t! _

His black eyes first drank in the moving picture, which showed the brick wall in all of it´s glory, a perfect rendition of an age old charm few could claim to have accomplished successfully in their lifetime. Above the picture, in large black letters, the headline read:

_MERLIN´S WALL FOUND STANDING IN MUGGLE NEIGHBOURHOOD! _

_Vandalism in the streets?_

Oh, it was a vandal, alright. A skinny blonde vandal much too stupid for her own good.

"Fuck" he muttered with feeling as he read the article below, causing a few stunned pairs of eyes to turn in his direction. He´d forgotten he wasn´t alone. Luckily, it only took one death glare to avert Tonks and Molly´s attention away from himself, and the two women returned to making breakfast to the increasingly larger amount of people inhabiting Grimmauld Place.

"That is no way to address the morning paper, Severus" Dumbledore said, leaning forward over his shoulder to take a peek ". Whatever troubles you is not it´s fault: it is merely the messenger"

Severus rolled his eyes and got up from his chair, walking to the window with a scowl firm on his face. The sky was as grey as it had been the weeks prior, but the strong wind promised sunlight for midday, and that was enough for the morning to seem lighter. Or at least this was what Dumbledore thought, because the man laughed joyfully as soon as he finished reading the two page spread.

"I believe" the old man said, eyes sparkling, when Severus turned an incredulous lifted eyebrow in his direction "that our plan for inter-house unity might not be going so poorly, after all"

Severus stared "Enlighten me"

"This, my dear friend" he waved the paper around "is an historical document: a proof that shows that not everything is lost"

"It only proves that leaving those two together was a mistake" the younger man replied, his black gaze returning to the streets outside ": even if they don´t outright kill each other, they´ll at least get each other killed"

"You think Harry Potter saved me?" Tonks asked, awed. Severus rolled his eyes at the evident hero-worship in her voice.

"Not exactly, my dear" Dumbledore answered warmly ", but it´s close enough"

"Harry is a good boy" Molly said, concerned "but he is so young. Shouldn´t someone be taking care of him? It´s not good for him to be so alone, after everything that has happened"

The Headmaster sighed "He is not alone, Molly, I promise" he said after a pause, choosing his words carefully ". But I´m afraid that the future is coming to us much faster than we had expected, and I think this might be the last peaceful summer we will have in a long time. In order to move forward, Harry will need to learn many things that he cannot learn here"

"But if you are right, and he´s the one who made that wall and saved Tonks, then he´s running around the city at night, fighting Death Eaters alone!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, scrambling eggs at the speed of light, her way of releasing her worry.

"Molly is right" Tonks said thoughtfully. Since she´d been banned from any kitchen work when she broke all the dishes in one memorable attempt at pizza the week before, she was only allowed to set the table ": there were many Death Eaters there last night, he couldn´t possibly fight them all off. What if he got hurt?"

"There was no sign of a fight" Severus stated calmly.

"What if he got taken?" Molly squeaked. Severus sighed, annoyed.

"There is no need for you to worry, Molly" Dumbledore said gently ". Harry was there last night, that is for certain, but I never said he created the Merlin´s Wall"

And he of course wasn´t the one who decided turning tail was the smart thing to do, Severus thought, but said nothing.

"Somebody else did it?" Tonks asked curiously "But whom?"

"That, I´m afraid, I cannot say" the Headmaster said brightly, always happy to create new puzzles for his students "but, as I said before, he is in the best place he can be right now. We only need to have faith"

The magical words... The storm was coming, but faith was always a good motivator, and Dumbledore was a smart man.

He´d clearly seen how fifty people had gotten abducted and yet...only eleven Muggle patients had been checked into St. Mungo´s. Of the others, there was no sign, no trace to follow, no proof that they had ever existed except for the testimonies of those who´d seen them die.

Severus sighed as he looked across the street, past the first round of houses and across the city, at a girl with hair the colour of the moon playing with a black hellhound in a centuries old house in the middle of a wild field, and chuckled.

For some strange reason, he had faith.

* * *

He was sitting on the lake shore, with his feet submerged in the warm water and the cool breeze caressing his face. The sun was shining bright against the clean blue sky, warming everything with it´s golden beams, making the surface of the still lake sparkle beautifully.

Birds were singing love songs in a thousand languages, happily perched on their everyday branches, waiting for their mates to appear before them, and the silence of the forest behind him was only disturbed by the occasional rodent returning to it´s burrow. Butterflies and bees fluttered around him, drawing intricate invisible figures in the air, and it was peaceful.

"But it´s not enough" Malfoy´s voice broke into his thoughts, and Harry opened his eyes as the world he´d created disappeared around him.

"What do you mean?" he asked, stifling a yawn. This was like the twentieth happy place he´d imagined in the past two hours "I did what you asked"

"No, you didn´t," she narrowed her eyes "you just thought up a place you thought was peaceful, but I´ll ask you a question: have you ever done what you pictured? No! Because you are a moron who´s afraid of water"

Harry´s hands fisted on the spare fabric of his pants at his knees, and he sucked in a deep breath "What´s your point, Malfoy?" he gritted out.

"You´re not feeling it!" she snapped "If you can´t feel it, I can´t, either."

"Well, how am I supposed to "feel it" if I don´t even know what I´m trying to picture?" his brow furrowed "And what the hell do you mean "feel it"?"

Malfoy rubbed her face with both of her hands and sighed in anger or frustration. Or both.

"A happy place isn´t necessarily about a place" she said slowly, letting her hands go to the ground to support her weight as she leaned back, searching for the right words ": it can be an invention or a bright spot in your memory core, but it is always something you feel strongly for. So it isn´t about the environment you imagine, or about the external sensations: it´s about the overall subjective response"

"Like what you do to conjure a patronus" Harry reasoned out loud

"Not quite" Malfoy said, cocking her head to the side and grinning ". What do you feel when you conjure a patronus?"

"Happy" he didn´t even need to think up the answer. He shrugged ". I think of the best memory I have... and I´m happy"

"That is what you feel to conjure a patronus" she told him ". I´m asking what you feel when you have already conjured it. When you are standing under that bright, cleansing light that takes away every fear and makes every threat disappear, what do you feel then?"

Harry remembered the moment when professor Lupin had presented him with a boggart posing as a dementor and he´d finally managed to repel it, using the skills that his father´s friend had taught him, and answered.

"I feel protected" he said, looking up at the clouds ". I feel like... nothing is going to harm me, because I´m not alone" he frowned ". Is that what you mean by happy place?" Malfoy nodded "But I don´t use a place. There is no place that holds that kind of meaning for me"

"Not an actual place, but a synthetic one" she explained, gesticulating with her hands again ". A place that you yourself construct and it keeps on changing as you grow to accommodate you better"

"I don´t think I have one" he said sincerely

"It doesn´t matter" Malfoy replied ". You´ll build one. I´ll teach you" she paused ". Close your eyes"

"What should I picture?"

"Nothing" she answered ". I´ll borrow you mine. You´ll use it for as long as we are connected or until you make one of your own, whichever comes first. Now close your eyes"

Doubtful but willing, Harry obeyed.

He felt the magic spread from the corner of his mind directed to his connection with Malfoy in the same way that it had the night before, unstoppable and all-encompassing, only in a different way. Last night, when she had used it to freeze him on the spot, the magic radiating from the bond and spreading through him had been unbearably hot and painful, for it had sought to control him in the most imperative way. This time, the feeling was different.

It was warm, but pleasantly so, like a winter afternoon spent wrapped in a blanket next to the fireplace in Gryffindor common room. The strong wind lowered to non-existence, and the chirping birds quieted, making way to silence as Harry could almost feel the world around him morph into something else, something alight with magic. When he opened his eyes, Harry was still sitting cross-legged on the floor, but the environment presented to him was very different.

It was, apparently, an attic, but it was unlike any other attic he had ever seen. The low cathedral ceiling was made of dark, unpainted wood, as was the floor, and there was no door or hole anywhere that might suggest a way out, but Harry wasn´t paying attention to that. He was looking at the source of the bright lights illuminating the otherwise unlit place: a large, round stained glass window with the design of a beautiful, fire spitting green dragon, expertly carved in different shades, making the sunlight filtrating through the glass dance around the room in a thousand different colours.

Harry got up and walked the few steps that separated him from it, reaching out to it, pressing his fingertips to the sun-warmed glass and tracing the outline of the dragon´s head, following it up to it´s mouth and the red, sparkling fire that came out from it.

"What is this place?" Harry asked in awe, letting his arm fall back to his side and turning to look at the still-sitting girl behind him "Is it real?"

"I´m not sure" Malfoy answered, looking at the lights that painted the wall. She shrugged "Does it matter?"

He could see what she meant: even though he´d never seen this place in his life, even though the lack of a way out should have been disturbing, here he felt at peace, calm and protected.

"No" Harry answered, his whisper breaking the peaceful silence that covered everything like a thick blanket "I guess it doesn´t"

"Sit down" Malfoy said, and Harry felt a tug at his little finger. Looking down, he saw that a yellow ribbon was tied around it. Harry frowned, following the fine fabric band with his eyes back to the Slytherin girl, who had the other end tied around her little finger and had apparently pulled at it to get his attention.

"What is this?" Harry asked, trying to untie the ribbon and not succeeding.

"I think it´s the bond" Malfoy answered, holding her pinkie finger up before her face for inspection "or at least it is a representation of it, maybe it has something to do with last night´s pinkie-swear" she grimaced, and Harry could feel her disgust at the term through the yellow fabric band. He chuckled and went back to his original spot on the floor, choosing to ignore the disturbing way the ribbon magically shortened as he walked closer to the Slytherin.

Harry sat back down in front of Malfoy, who seemed slightly less edgy now that she was locked inside her own mind.

"I´m not locked" she said softly, eyes closed "and neither are you"

She nodded to the wall behind Harry, and he looked back, frowning. There, where he was pretty certain there had been a solid wall, now stood a closed door. When he turned back to question Malfoy about it, he saw that on the wall behind her there was a similar door, which hadn´t been there before. For some reason he could not pinpoint, Harry knew exactly what was behind each of those doors, but if behind each door was the mind of both of the people occupying these bizarre room, what the hell was _this_ room?

"I guess you could call this a sort of "limbo" between you and me. When we are done, you´ll be able to access any and every one of your memories through that Door. The other one is mine" Malfoy said, eyes closed ". I´ll leave it up to you to decide which one of them leads to heaven and which one to hell"

What was the point of speaking if she could hear every fucking thing he thought?

"Salem´s Witches Privacy Act 1845 declares that every witch and wizard has a right to keep their own mind to themselves and forbids legilimens to go further than peeking unless they want to hang from the neck until they die" she explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Harry stared "So hearing other people´s thoughts is alright, but speaking to them in their mind is too much?"

Malfoy shrugged "Something like that. Back then, when Occlumency didn´t exist and legilimens were going around messing with people´s heads, they needed something final"

"Shouldn´t they have changed it?" Harry asked, frowning" Lord Snape says Occlumency is very common, and many people practice it. Isn´t that law a little... over the top, these days?"

"Yes, but we´re wizards" came the answer, one grey eye opening to peek at him through a white-blond fringe ". If something works, we stick with it. That´s why we still dress as if we were in a Shakespeare play: we don´t bother with evolution"

"But you did it... a few times, the first day I was here" he finished in a mumble, remembering how annoying having somebody´s voice in his head was, and decidedly not bringing out last night´s trip to the city.

Malfoy smirked, both of her eyes sliding closed. She had probably caught up with Harry´s train of thought but decided to ignore it "Rules were made to be broken, Potter, I thought you were familiar with that"

Harry closed his eyes as a bunch of images of some of his adventures at school rushed to him through the yellow ribbon "I have no idea what you are talking about" he said mildly ". I was fighting evil and bad things"

"Oh, please" the girl huffed, not raising her voice from a whisper ". I can´t believe Dumbledore ever bought that bullshit"

"Believe whatever you want" Harry told her calmly "I´m sticking to my story"

He could almost hear Malfoy´s eyes roll.

The pleasant silence stretched between them for what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes, and Harry could feel himself relaxing enough to finally be at ease for the first time in a very long time. The confused knots of anger and guilt that had been tormenting him ever since school year´s end unravelled magically, leaving behind only warm contentedness, and the tight ropes of distrust tied around his heart eased, even though he was in the presence of the one who had caused most of it, if not all of it.

For some reason, it was finally all gone, and he felt as light as a feather, floating in the air with the absolute knowledge that nothing, _nothing_ could go wrong, and he´d keep on floating forever.

"What are we supposed to do here?" Harry asked softly, not opening his eyes.

"Nothing" Malfoy answered, her voice equally soft. After a pause, she added "Everything"

Harry opened his eyes to ask what she meant, but the words died before they could leave his lips as he gaped at what he saw.

The room was still the same, and they hadn´t moved from their spots on the floor, but the walls were painted now, looking as if the colourful lights had been plastered to them, making the place seem lighter and richer. The floor was now covered with a fluffy brown rug, and a fireplace was lit in a corner, filling the silence with it´s crackling sounds. The stained glass window was still there, the dragon´s eyes still watching over the people occupying it´s lair and, upon checking, Harry could see that so were the Doors behind him and Malfoy, but everything else had changed entirely, giving the place much more life than it had possessed when he had first arrived.

"Not bad" Malfoy said appreciatively, pulling Harry away from his thoughts ". A little too much rainbow for my taste, but it´s very good"

"What happened?" Harry asked, standing up to look around, surprised to find he was now barefoot and his shoes were lying next to his Door.

"You happened" Malfoy told him disinterestedly as she snapped her fingers and a large green cushion materialized next to her with a popping sound.

Harry didn´t really understand, and stood there like an idiot, waiting for her to continue as he watched her get comfortable on the padded floor for her usual nap. She was barefoot, too, and a quick glance towards her Door confirmed that her hiking boots were next to it, neatly placed one next to the other.

"Congratulations, Harry Slow Potter" Malfoy said, not even trying to hide the satisfaction evident in her words and face": you cleared your mind"

Harry stared at her, gazing right into those twinkling grey eyes with a question. After a few seconds and an insulted blond eyebrow-lift, Harry gaped. Malfoy wasn´t lying, it was the truth, he´d finally succeeded! He looked around again and noticed that the bright colours liberally sploshed on the walls resembled the ones that tended to dance behind his eyes when casting a spell; the fireplace was a replica of the one at Gryffindor tower; the air smelled of sweet treacle tart.

_I love magic, _Harry thought, awed.

Malfoy´s answering sleepy hum from the floor and a soft tug of contentedness at the ribbon informed him that he wasn´t the only one.

* * *

They spread the ashes all over the land, making sure every patch of earth was covered and stomped on so that the fine dust wouldn´t get blown by the wind. Luckily, there wasn´t much lawn, since most of the grounds were covered in stone, forming one large white-stone patio that surrounded the enormous mansion, making it seem even bigger and much more menacing in the early morning mist.

On each of the pillars of the wall surrounding the estate there was an open-mouthed stone gargoyle, sitting there like either a guardian or keeper; either there to make sure no one got in or that nobody got out. _Probably both_ he thought, averting his gaze from the one closest to him to avoid it´s emerald green eyes.

His job was to pour the blood into the fountains. It was his job because the other guy who was going to do it had fainted and was now locked in the dungeons, getting special treatment from the Dark Lord himself. He sighed, knowing that chances were they´d be scrubbing the boy off the floor in a few hours and getting blood off his robes was a pain in the ass these days.

The blood barrels were lined up against the wall, next to the hair boxes and pretty far away from the supervisor, so he made his way there slowly, dragging his feet in exhaustion. They´d been doing this all day, running around the place with barrels and boxes, burning the remains and spreading the ashes, all under Grabbe and Goyle´s watchful stare, the two men working as one to make sure no one did anything that wasn´t according to plan. It was amazing, really, how that pair of idiots could be as efficient as they were intimidating, still wearing their full-body uniform even though it wasn´t necessary anymore.

He pulled a barrel up over his shoulder and his back creaked painfully, but he swallowed down any complaints out of habit and turned back to the closest fountain he could see: a big pond inhabited by a pair of fighting marble anacondas, both of them spitting water through their open mouths. He placed the barrel on the floor and, using his wand, sent the lid flying, grimacing at the smell of blood going stale. He pushed the container up against the edge and poured the red liquid in bit by bit, watching in fascination how the red mingled with the colourlessness of the crystalline water.

He wondered absently whose blood it was. Was it the busty blonde's, who had screamed so sweetly when he´d slit her throat open and poured her blood to the wooden container? Was it her little daughter´s, whose hair he´d cut as she cried in terror? Was it one of the old one´s? Maybe it was Lord Greengrass´, the only one who´d already been dead when the killing started but hadn´t been excluded. He chuckled, remembering how the Lord had cut the old man in pieces and then fitted them into a bag.

A wand was pointed at his jaw then, stabbing at it with enough force to turn his head to the side and make him stumble, keeping his precarious grip on the barrel one-handed.

"Cast the spell" Goyle ordered gruffly, punctuating each word with a stab of his wand.

Slightly intimidated, he complied, pulling out his wand again. The older man took one look at him and lowered his wand, but he didn´t walk away, choosing to back off a few steps to observe, arms crossed over his chest, waiting. Trying hard not to roll his eyes, he began pouring the blood back into the water, holding the barrel with one hand and holding his wand with the other, whispering the words he´d been told to learn and watching to see what happened.

Nothing happened. Disappointed, he stood back and surveyed his work. The water of the pond had turned reddish, but it was too large and held too much water, so they would need at least two more barrels to make it change colours. He started to walk back towards the barrels, but then it happened. The water stopped pouring out of the anacondas´ mouths, making the place seem oddly quiet without the constant noise, and the liquid that was at the pond started bubbling, almost as if it were boiling.

The noise generated by the bubbles was deafening, almost too much to bear, the sick sizzle of Dark magic increasing as the seconds went by. Many of the ones that had been working near came closer to look, wearing expressions raging from awed to truly horrified. Narrowing his eyes, he wondered why those people were here if they could not appreciate the true beauty of a situation like this.

As suddenly as it had started, the bubbling stopped, and there was silence, even though it was for only a few seconds. The snakes seemed to groan in pain before liquid began pouring out of their white mouths, only they weren´t spitting crystalline water anymore: it was vibrant, rich red. Reaching out hesitantly, he wetted his fingers on it and slowly brought them into his mouth, a smile of pure evil nearly splitting his face in two when he felt the metallic tang hit his tongue.

It was blood.

Pure and unadulterated, it wasn´t even mixed with water!

"What are they going to use it for, my Lord?" he asked Goyle, who was staring at the fountain, entranced.

"Protection" the man said, not looking away. Turning to the others with vacant eyes, he ordered ". Get back to work, everyone. This has to be finished by midday"

Everyone hurried back to do as what Goyle had told them, being aware of the consequences of not obeying. The supervising Death Eater turned and walked away, still looking like a zombie, and many wondered what the man had seen in the red of the fountain to suddenly seem so absent.

The man still standing by the fountain, though, merely licked his lips. He could still feel the coppery taste of blood in his mouth by the time he left to grab a new barrel, his gut twisted by the strength of the Dark magic swirling around the fountain and now inhabiting his hazel eyes.

* * *

_Dear Harry,_

_How have you been? It´s only been a week since I got your last letter, but it feels like a lifetime has passed since I last heard of you, and I worry. People, mostly Muggles, have been disappearing from their homes, and I´m scared that perhaps Death Eaters will go by Little Whinging and snatch you away._

_The infamous Daily Prophet has been writing the abductions down as a Muggle terrorist group trying to send a message to their government, but I have seen the news on the T.V and nobody knows those people have disappeared! Contrary to what the Ministry wants us to believe, there´s clearly been magic involved._

_Oh, Harry, I´m frightened. I´m frightened of the way things have been evolving, and I´m frightened of the way people choose to close their eyes to it, of the way they decide lies are better than the truth. My father says that sometimes people need reality to hit them on the head before they open their minds to it, but I only wonder how much time, and how many more disappearances, it will take for the wizarding world to finally understand that what you told us after the tournament was true._

_I´m sorry, I´m being depressing. It´s just that being here at home, away from anything and everything magical... it gives me too much time to think and you know thinking too much makes me a little paranoid. Write me soon, alright? I´m going crazy here._

_Love, Hermione._

Harry put the letter down on the low table by the sofa, staring blankly at the crackling fire that warmed up the living room. Lord Snape was fussing over Joan, changing the light bandages he´d wrapped around her legs and applying ointments on the healing skin. Malfoy was in the kitchen, presumably making breakfast, loudly singing along to a Beatle record that was spinning on the vintage phonograph lovingly kept on a shelf in the hallway.

He´d read and re-read the letter many times, tracing his friend´s penmanship with shaky fingers, wondering how they were going to get through this. He´d spent most of the past month in the Cottage, where nothing, not even the most terrible news, could reach, and now he felt guilty, knowing that the world around him was changing and he´d once again been locked in a safe-house, carefully guarded lest something happened to him.

"_That´s not true," _Malfoy´s voice cut through his thoughts like a very sharp, very annoyed knife, "_you´re not here to be kept safe, you´re here to learn something. Frankly, if someone came through that door right now, wanting to gut you like a fish, I´d let them. Hell, I might even make some popcorn."_

"_That´s not the point," _Harry rolled his eyes en though he knew she could not see him. The lessons were going quite good now, and he´d been getting better at this telepathic thing, "_The point is that people are disappearing and dying and god knows what else, and I´m in here being useless...!"_

"_...as opposed to being out there, being useless, which is very different, indeed," _came the sarcastic retort. "_Potter, right now, there is nothing you can do. Deal with it."_

"I refuse to believe that!" Harry yelled. In the kitchen down the hall, Malfoy laughed.

"_You better believe it," _she said in his mind, "_because things will get uglier and uglier as the days go by, and still you will not be able to do anything." _

"Don´t worry" real Malfoy said, coming into the living room. Somewhere was at her heels, happily carrying a large piece of bread in his mouth and wagging his tail ": You´ll get used to it. Breakfast´s ready"

That announcement made, she left again, her hellhound in tow.

"Wonderful" Lord Snape said, ignoring their weird display. He helped Joan, who looked confused by Harry and Malfoy´s little scene, to get up without her crutches: a great accomplishment, considering how she hadn´t even been able to move her legs properly the week prior "My dear, I believe you are almost ready"

"Thank you" she said with a warm smile ". For everything"

Harry absently watched her slowly make her way to the large kitchen, where they had every meal, wondering what had Malfoy been referring to when she said he´d get used to it: their new way of communication or the impotence he was currently feeling.

Knowing Malfoy, she´d probably meant both.

Meals at the Cottage were pleasant occasions, filled with good food, Lord Snape´s embarrassing stories about Malfoy´s childhood, death glares from the later one´s direction, and a great deal of laughter from the other two people sitting at the round kitchen table.

Sitting at his spot next to Joan, picking at his some toast while he listened to Malfoy and Lord Snape argue about the proper recipe for smashed potatoes, Harry thought of the people who´d disappeared, wondering where they were and what had been done to them. Dumbledore had told him that Voldemort´s years had been marked by disappearances, but the ones who had been abducted back then had been wizards, like his parents, the people who´d opposed the Dark Lord.

"_They were killed," _Malfoy supplied, coating a piece of toast with an even amount of butter. Trust Malfoy to turn buttering up a toast into a form of art. Anyone looking at her then wouldn´t have noticed she was using Occlumency "_They weren´t taken, they were killed, that´s the difference. Even though there were abductions, everybody knew what happened to the ones that disappeared"_

"_We don´t know what happens to those Muggles now" _Harry closed his eyes, feeling his stomach twist in discomfort. Malfoy didn´t answer.

"I believe the time has come for our dear Joan to go back home" Lord Snape announced with a smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling, after they had all finished eating ". Her legs will be completely healed by tonight, and I´m sure she wishes to return to her everyday life"

"Yeah" Joan agreed, resting her chin on her hand ". I wonder if I already got fired... a month of absence is no joke"

"No worries" Malfoy said, pilling up the dishes ":we´ll take care of that."

Joan frowned "How?"

"Hum..." Malfoy picked up the last dish and smirked "Let´s just say I know a trick or two. Potter and I´ll take you home tomorrow"

"Cool" Joan smiled, although she looked slightly uncertain. No wonder she didn´t want to go back, after what had happened to her and now that she knew powerful wizards were walking around, she was probably terrified. She didn't know that Muggles were disappearing left and right, didn´t know no one was looking for them, didn´t know first thing about Voldemort´s evil powers, even if she had seen him in person.

There really was no silver lining to their current situation, nothing they could hold on to. People still didn´t believe Voldemort had come back, and everything Harry had said about him had been told to be a lie. The chances of him defeating the Dark Lord alone were minimal, even if he could find him, and soon even more people would start to disappear. Malfoy was right, things would get worse and worse, and he could do _nothing_ about it.

Still, Harry reached out to her and squeezed her hand softly "Don´t worry" he said, trying to sound as comforting as he could ". Nothing like this will happen to you again... you´ll be safe" he paused ". I promise"

Lord Snape smiled; Joan nodded enthusiastically and thanked him.

Malfoy rolled her eyes.

* * *

"What are you going to answer her?"

Harry opened his eyes to find himself sitting in the Room for the second time that day. Malfoy was sitting in front of him, her colourlessness contrasting the walls and making her seem out of place.

Harry frowned "I was sleeping"

Malfoy shrugged "I don´t care. What are you going to answer her?"

"Answer who?" he asked, rubbing his eyes and stifling a yawn. He´d been having such a nice dream...

"Yeah, the first non-pornographic good dream I´ve known you have" Malfoy told him, rolling her eyes. Harry blushed ". What are you going to answer Granger?"

Harry stopped feeling embarrassed in favour of searching his mind for an answer to the question he´d been thinking over all day. As he expected, he came up blank "I don´t know" he said, letting his head hang back, looking at the ceiling.

"Are you going to give her bullshit promises like the one you gave Joan?" Malfoy asked, pulling at the yellow ribbon sharply.

"What do you mean? It wasn´t a lie" Harry said defensively

"It wasn´t true, either" she retorted, examining her nails disinterestedly.

There was a pause.

"What else was I supposed to tell her?" he muttered softly, contemplating the dragon in the window as if he held all the answers "She was scared"

"Like she should be" Malfoy said ". But that´s not what I brought you here to talk about. The question is, why did you lie?"

Harry didn´t know if it was because of the bond or something else entirely, but he knew what she meant. If he had pronounced those same words a year before, they would have been true, because back then he had believed, with every fibre of his being, that he would, against every single odd, defeat Voldemort and rid the world of his evil. Now, he wasn´t so sure anymore, because... how could he defeat such power? How could he end such hatred? How could he save all those people?

How could he, Harry Potter, a little orphan everyone seemed to pity, defeat Voldemort, when he had needed the help of three of the man´s victims only to escape from him? How could he, when he had only stood by and watched as a boy got unceremoniously killed in his stead?

The question wasn´t weather if he´d lied or told the truth, it was weather if he believed his own words or didn´t.

"I can´t" Harry said finally, taking in a shaky breath and looking at the floor "I just... I can´t"

"Sure you can" Malfoy told him, and Harry looked up, suddenly angry.

"How do you know?" he asked, his hands curling in a fist "How could you know? You have never even..."

"...met him?" she finished for him, a nasty smirk forming on her fine lips "Oh, I have, Potter, very much so. In fact, I met him before you"

"Then how can you say I can defeat him?" Harry retorted "How could I?"

"That doesn´t matter" Malfoy told him, her cloudy eyes focused on him ". It´s not that you are the only one who could ever kill him, it´s just that he has chosen you to be his arch-nemesis"

"So I just have to sit back and wait for him to come for me?"

"For now, yes" she crossed her arms over her chest, holding his angry gaze steadily ". But you´ll have to choose"

"Choose what?" Why the hell did he have to ask so many question when he was speaking to this girl?

"You can wait for him" Malfoy cocked her head to the side "or you can go for him" she shrugged ". I´d take the second over the first any day of the week: I hate waiting"

Harry sighed "Is that supposed to be comforting?"

"Of course not" came the answer ". I´m telling you your possibilities. You can´t choose the cards you are dealt, but you can choose what to do with them. Once you decide, you won´t be lying anymore"

It was structured way of thinking, a compartmentalized and logical way to see things: one issue at a time. For some reason, Harry felt better.

Malfoy got up in one sudden, fluid move, sharply pulling at the ribbon to make him get up too as she walked towards her Door.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked, pushing himself up to his feet and following her.

"This isn´t about the lessons" she threw over her shoulder, only looking back at him when she placed her hand on the doorknob. For some reason, she wouldn´t meet his eyes ". It´s about Joan, and the other Muggles. We´re taking her home tomorrow, but I need you to see something, first."

When Harry nodded, Malfoy took a deep breath, and pushed the door open.

It opened with a creak to reveal a familiar, hair-raising scene: a dark room, lit only with candles, a dead body on the floor, two cloaked figures standing and Voldemort sprawled on chair, looking up at the ceiling, his skeletal hand covering the bowed head of a kneeling Malfoy. It seemed real, but something about the definition of the images, and most of all the tangible presence of the real Malfoy standing next to him, told Harry that it was merely a memory.

Malfoy looked uncomfortable, her arms crossed over her chest and her grey eyes focused on the scene, her lips forming a tight white line.

"I gave them both an illusion" she said, not looking at him ". I used my magic and professor Snape´s, I combined them to make them think Joan was dead"

"Isn´t that really hard?" Harry asked, frowning.

Malfoy smirked "Yes, it is, but I´m just really that good"

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Well" Voldemort began, and Harry turned his head to look back at him. Burying his fingers in white-blond hair, the Dark Lord continued", the last time, you did save a few Muggles, which tells me you thought them worthy. That, of course, is unacceptable. A test"

He turned his head to the side, his fine, colourless lips twisting in an ugly smile as he looked at the door behind which Harry knew Joan was. Even though he knew it was only a memory, that the real Joan was sleeping in her room, and the real Mlfoy was standing next to him, watching the scene unravel, his hands fisted when Voldemort forcefully pulled the blond girl´s face up to look at him, a clear threat in his red eyes.

"If you have forgotten that ridiculous affection for vermin, prove it" he nodded in Joan´s direction". A particularly annoying, nosey bug is locked in there. Squash it"

Memory Malfoy nodded jerkily, getting up and making her way to the closet slowly. Resolutely, she yanked the door open.

"He likes to watch" Real Malfoy said, and Harry tore his eyes away from the scene to look at her ". Voldemort is an excellent legilimens, and his favourite thing to do is get into his victims´ mind before they are killed. That´s why you always see things from the victims´ perspective: because Voldie is a voyeur"

Harry winced at the disturbing choice of words "Does he get into his henchmen´s minds too?"

"Yeah, he likes to do that too" she grimaced, not looking at him.

"Please...Don´t...Please..." Joan´s cries terror and pain were like nails on a chalkboard to his ears, and Harry quickly tried to think of something to draw his attention away.

"Can you jump from mind to mind with Legilimency?" he asked Malfoy, who turned to him with a puzzled expression "I mean, can you enter someone´s mind, someone who´s far away, and then enter somebody else´s from there, someone who´s near the first person?"

"Yes, I think so" she frowned ". Why´d you ask?"

"Well, in the dream I had the other night, the one about the woman with pink hair, I could see things from her perspective, but Voldemort was nowhere near" he explained. Malfoy nodded thoughtfully, mulling it over, when the green light of a curse lightened the whole room and Voldemort´s delighted laughter reached their ears, followed by the dull thump of a head hitting the floor.

"Wonderful!" Voldemort laughed, beckoning Malfoy closer. Memory Malfoy, trembling a little, obeyed, glancing significantly at one of the standing figures. Snape closed his eyes for a second, trembling as well. Voldemort, oblivious, continued, grasping one of the girl´s hands with both of his own "I truthfully like you, Draco"

Malfoy, hesitant, kneeled again "I... am honoured, my Lord"

"You have grown into a beauty worthy of your blood" he commented, placing a hand under her chin to lift her face for examination ". I must congratulate you, Lucius. Your daughter has become a fine lady, indeed"

"Thank you, my Lord" Lucius Malfoy bowed briefly. He hadn´t noticed the illusion, either ". Is there anything else we might do for you tonight?"

The air became cold, the eye of the storm located on the serpent-like man, his red eyes seemingly piercing through the youngest Malfoy´s skull with the force of the macabre _grin_ that lightened up his features. Harry could see Memory Malfoy tense up, her whole body angling away from Voldemort as much as was possible, her free hand clenching into a white knuckle fist, and felt something like respect over the fact that she didn´t avert her eyes, even though she clearly wanted to.

"Well" Voldemort said, addressing her and her only, his voice raising goose bumps on Harry´s arms ", there are a few things"

The cold air rushed away from him, as if chased off by some invisible warmth, and as fast as he´d been faced by that terrifying scene, Harry found himself once again in the room, next to Real Malfoy, facing her closed Door.

"I think that´s enough. Professor Snape made up an excuse for me, so I picked up Joan and brought her here" Malfoy said, turning around and returning to her previous spot on the floor ". He sent me a message the other day: a handful of Death Eaters kidnapped about fifty people that night. The Order of the Phoenix could only rescue a few, the ones that had lived through the week"

"One week" Harry mused, concentrating on the facts and not on _a few out of fifty_ ". That was probably the night I went to London. So that girl was a member of the Order"

"Probably" Malfoy agreed

"We don´t get the Daily Prophet" Harry said, suddenly realising something he should have probably noticed before. Closing his eyes, he sat back down on the floor ". Dumbledore knew I´d try to save them and do something stupid, that´s why... we don´t get the Daily Prophet" pausing, he remembered the grand fiasco his one night out had been. Harry groaned ". He was right!"

"That´s right" the Slytherin said with no sympathy whatsoever, disinterestedly watching him cover his face with his palms "So, what are you going to do?"

"Do about what?" he asked through his fingers, not even bothering to look up at Malfoy.

"Well, if I don´t poorly remember, something similar sparked our last fight" she told him ". I thought you disliked people trying to keep you from the truth. Or the truth from you. Whatever"

Harry peered at her through his fingers, taking in her annoyed, awkward face "Malfoy" he said slowly, pulling his hands away and looking up at her ", are you trying to be... understanding?"

It was sure a trick of the light and not Malfoy blushing.

"Fuck you" she hissed, and Harry laughed at the Death by Dismemberment glare that was sent his way.

When he was done laughing, he glanced at a sulking Malfoy "Why did you show me that? Isn´t it against Dumbledore´s orders?"

Glare intensifying with insulted murderousness, she answered "I don´t follow the Headmaster´s orders. He told me to keep you here and teach you in whatever way I feel is best. I can´t teach you any Occlumency if you are an unmotivated prick"

"I am motivated" Harry argued, to which Malfoy snorted.

"Oh, please" she sneered ". You had already mastered the mind clearing bit, but today you were so preoccupied with your bullshit you could not even picture this place. I had to wait until you fell asleep before I could call you back"

Harry could not argue that. The day´s lesson had been a far call from the easy flow of the ones in the week prior, all because he could not tear Hermione´s letter away from his thoughts.

"I know I can´t do anything to help them now" he whispered, not looking into those disturbing grey eyes that seemed to peer directly at his soul ", but I can´t just stop thinking about them, or feeling..."

What was the word?

"...responsible?" Malfoy suggested. At Harry´s nod, she sighed ". You are not, Potter. And you are right: you can´t do anything for them now, but maybe in time there will be something you might do"

Harry chuckled bitterly "Will there be?"

"Maybe" she answered ", it depends on you. For now, you should just focus on learning this and please not try to make my life difficult. It really is one step forward, two backwards with you. I wonder how professor Snape hasn´t killed you yet"

"He´s waiting for the right moment to pounce, I just know it" he said, lying on his back and pillowing his head on one of his arms.

"No wonder he is" Malfoy commented ". You are insufferable"

A comfortable silence stretched for a while, and Harry closed his eyes.

When he opened them it was still night, but he was back in his bed. Hedwig hooted softly in greeting from her perch on a chair, and he wondered if it had all been a dream. Harry sighed and rolled onto his back, thinking of what he had just seen in Malfoy´s memory and knowing that it could not have possibly been a dream.

Seeing Voldemort in his new form yet again, through somebody else´s eyes, and knowing what had happened to those people had made Harry hate him even more, the all-consuming pit of hatred that he carried around with him everywhere these days boiling uncontrollably. A few out of fifty... he wondered how many, and what had happened to those that hadn´t been found.

Malfoy was right. Even if he wasn´t certain he could actually defeat Voldemort, he had to try, not because others told him it was his fight, but because he wanted to, for those people. At the moment, it seemed impossible, but maybe someday... who knew? A roll of thunder came from the open window, and Harry wondered when the hell it was going to stop raining over them.

Also...

The Vooldemort in the memory had told Malfoy something... he had spoken of a last time, and implied that she had saved a few Muggles. When? And how? The blonde Slytherin was a mystery. The more he knew about her, the more questions formed themselves in his mind, waiting for answers he wasn´t sure he´d ever be able to find. He´d given up on wondering if he could trust her not, settling for a gamble, in the end. He´d trust her, for now, and hope that every mystery had a solution.

With that, Harry fell back asleep.

* * *

Even though there was thick fog everywhere, the sky was grey and roaring with thunder, the streets were filled of loud, annoying people and the car noises were almost unbearable, Joan had to admit that, after such a long time of being secluded in the country, it was great to be back.

Of course, not everyone was of that same opinion.

"Merlin, there are people here" exclaimed Miss Draco, not bothering to dodge the herds of old ladies going back home from their shopping day. Instead, she stepped on one of the women´s foot and ignored the incredulous _excuse me! _sent in her direction.

"She´s sorry, ma´am" Harry told the old lady, who left without answering ". Look where you are going, Malfoy"

"Why should I?" she sneered "Old hags think they can do whatever they want just because they are old! I was rude, but you were nice, and she didn´t even say 'why, thank you for that wonderful apology, unidentified young man" she bowed exaggeratedly, making more than one pair of eyes turn their way ". I wish you a happy day and may your bus arrive on time'."

"I guess I´m not the only one that´s insufferable here" Harry muttered. Joan´s laugh was cut short by Miss Draco´s excited squeak of _there´s the bus!, _her new favourite word since that morning, when both Joan and Harry had been informed of her fondness for Muggle transportation vehicles.

Never in her life had Joan seen someone climb on a bus as happily as Miss Draco, who walked on to sit at the back while humming Money Honey under her breath. She was very particular about her music, seeing as she didn´t appear to listen to anything that wasn´t at least ten years old.

She looked out of place sitting there, her bright presence and continuous restlessness clashing with the misty gloom of London´s streets; her light blue jeans, red combat boots and dark pink hoodie a perfect contrast to the grey-and-black clad citizens, running to wherever they were going as she breezed by with the air of someone taking a stroll on their own backyard.

Harry didn´t fit quite well, either, though for different reasons. Where Miss Draco practically glittered, he seemed to be casted by perpetual shadow, almost as if a cloud enveloped him at all times, clinging his slightly too large sweater, his slightly too long pants, his slightly too old sneakers.

Sitting next to each other, though at significant distance, they weren´t quite so out of place, the both of them humming with irrepressible energy that might have been magic, for all Joan knew, just hiding under the calm surface of two young people that, together, didn´t seem to be broken fragments from another world, but a whole world by their own right, even if they were currently still bickering over the old lady they had met outside, irritated whispers thrown back and forth though they were at arms length.

Knowing that there was no way either of them would budge to let her sit at either of their sides, Joan sighed and sat between them, knowing that, sandwiched as she was between a pair of aliens, she was the one that seemed out of place.

Magic... After everything that had happened that day a few weeks ago, when her life had been unceremoniously turned upside down, Miss Draco hadn´t needed to do much convincing for Joan to believe her explanations. It had, after all, been one hell of a night. While the whole day had been relatively calm, what with being locked in a closet and tortured to numbness a few times, the night, and early morning after, had been anything but calm.

She had woken up to find herself slung over someone´s shoulder, her face looking directly at the floor said person was leaving behind. It was concrete floor: a sidewalk, but the whole manhandling business hadn´t been what she first noticed. The really first thing that had disturbed her about her current position was that she could see the water covering the floor and the splashing raindrops did when they hit their companions, and she could also feel drops hitting her back, but she wasn´t wet, and neither was the person carrying her.

Upon bullying her abused brain matter to actually think of the fact that she was being _carried by someone_, Joan had of course done the only thinkable thing: she´d yelped and kicked her carrier viciously with her free legs, which were dangling on the front of whomever it was that was carrying her. Her mean of transportation let out a string of curses in more than one language in a voice that was most certainly not male, hinting that maybe Joan had hit something, and dropped her to the wet floor, which Joan hit with a wet thump.

"Help! Please help, I´m being kidnapped!" Joan had pulled her legs down under herself and stumbled down the sidewalk as fast as she could with injured ankles, screaming herself raw in fear and pain, and waving her arms around in the hopes of gaining someone´s attention.

"Oh, you have to be fucking kidding me!" her assailant´s angry nasal scream came from behind at almost the same time Joan felt something hit her back and made her fall forward when she´d only made a few metres.

Even though she could not move, Joan didn´t give up "Help! Please...!"

"Oh, shut up" he heard the woman´s annoyed voice, along with her footsteps.

The woman dropped to her knees next to her and pulled Joan´s head to her lap, which gave her a clear view of who this person was, even though her face was covered by one of her hands, keeping the blood inside her broken nose. So that´s where her knee had connected. The string of memories from the last several hours came back to her and Joan began to scream with renewed waves of terror.

The girl rolled her eyes, annoyed. She raised a familiar branch, which made Joan scream louder "_Silencio!_" and, just like that, she could not scream anymore. No matter how hard she tried, no sound came out.

"And while you are wailing uselessly, pay attention" the blond girl (Hadn´t she been supposed to kill her?) drawled out in a bored tone ", that´s the least you can do, since you broke my nose. I´ll say this once and only once, so don´t expect for a repeat if you miss anything"

The rain continued to fall around them, but neither of them got wet, and Joan listened to a tale seemingly taken out of a fantasy novel, but could not find any reason not to believe it.

"I´m going to lift the spell, now, and you are not going to scream, yes?" the girl said slowly, as if speaking to a very young child or a very stupid person. Joan nodded, and suddenly she could speak and move again.

"Weren´t you supposed to kill me?" she asked softly, trembling with both fear and pain.

The girl shrugged "I´ve never been good at following orders"

Joan swallowed "What are you going to do with me now?"

"Take you to a safe place" the blond answered ". You are not safe here. And I have to cure your legs"

She got up then, lifting Joan and swinging her over her shoulder as if she weighted nothing. The older girl squeaked in surprise "Wait, don´t I have a say in this?"

"Of course not" was the answer ". You lost any sort of 'say' you could have ever had when you committed the stupidity of going into a clearly haunted house with no sort of back up whatsoever"

"I´m sorry" Joan said softly, watching the floor she was dangling above of ". That really was pretty stupid of me"

"Not to worry, Joan" the blond threw over her shoulder ". We are all entitled to do some stupid stuff once in a while"

It didn´t escape to her that the stranger had called her by her name, and she remembered mentioning it to her before, at the house. She cleared her throat "What is your name?"

"Draco Malfoy" the other said. A rather unusual name for an unusual person. It fit.

"Thank you for not killing me, Miss Malfoy" Joan said sincerely.

"Don´t call me that" was the answering huff ". My aunt Chrysalis was Miss Malfoy. I´m Draco"

"Fine then, Miss Draco"

The blonde laughed incredulously, "That´s a start" a pause. Then". You are welcome"

A long silence followed, silence during which Joan noticed her legs weren´t hurting anymore... had it been another spell?

"So...you are a witch?" Joan asked tentatively.

"Yep"

Joan frowned "Shouldn´t you have warts or something?"

That question got her an undignified huff and a rant about stereotypes that went on for as long as it took them to reach wherever, a trajectory which Joan made on his saviour´s shoulder, listening intently to everything she said and wondering if she had really smoked enough weed to hallucinate this whole thing.

"Are you alright?" Harry´s concerned voice broke into her thoughts, startling her.

"Yeah, I´m fine" she said lightly, grinning ". I´m great"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I am" she sighed ". It´s just that it´s all so weird. I mean, how am I going to go on with my life now that I know you people are real?"

Harry shifted awkwardly, but it was Miss Draco who answered her question "Don´t worry, Joan. When the time comes, you´ll know how to get by"

They reached her house pretty quickly, talking all the while, commenting on the buildings and the people, and amiably chatting their tongues off as they had grown so accustomed to doing during the last few weeks, when they had been locked in the Cottage with nothing but each other´s company for entertainment.

Joan´s building had many floors and sometimes, when there were enough clouds, the grey top seemed to reach the grey sky, merging with it and making her remember why she´d decided to live here.

"Well, I guess this is good-bye" she told her companions as they reached the steps to the front door

"It was great to meet you, Joan" Harry said, squeaking a little when Joan hugged him and hesitating before hugging her back. She didn´t know all the details, but she knew he was going through a hard time, and he had really been very nice to her, comforting her when she´d needed it.

"Take care" she whispered

"You too" he whispered back before they parted.

"You found your sappy soul-mate, Potter" Miss Draco mocked them with a roll of her eyes.

"Shut up, Malfoy" Harry said, blushing.

"Don´t hold back, Potter, I know you thought this day would never come"

Chuckling softly, Joan hugged her too before the argument could escalate, smiling when the blond girl patted her awkwardly on the back ". There, there" she said ". It´s not as if we´ll never see each other again"

"Thank you" Joan said, pulling back ". For everything"

Miss Draco scratched her head, clearly uncomfortable now, and studiously ignored the way Harry was laughing at her "You´re welcome"

"Thank Lord Snape for me, yes?"

Miss Draco rolled her eyes "You already thanked him..."

"I´ll tell him" Harry interrupted, shaking his head.

"Yes, yes" the blond girl smiled "Bugger off, now, we´ll see you later"

Joan nodded, turned around and climbed up the steps to the large metal door that was insanely hard to open and creaked as if it were an animal whose tail someone was stepping on. It was about one o´clock in the afternoon, so there was probably no one in the rooms apartments next to hers. That was good, she had an urge to listen to some music really loud while she had a hot soak, and her neighbours weren´t the most noise loving people. She wondered if she still had some of those apple scented bath salts her mother had given her for Christmas...

"See you. Good luck" Miss Draco said behind her, and Joan was about to turn around to answer when she felt a sudden chill and she shivered, feeling as if she´d been enveloped by a freezing air current.

Where had she come from, again? She could not remember anything from the morning... come to think of it, she could not remember anything from the day before, either. She´d been coming back home from a party, hadn´t she? She wondered as she turned around, but there was no one there. Why had she expected someone to be there? Maybe she should go see a doctor...

Frowning in puzzlement, Joan pushed the door open and grimaced at the loud creak, resolving to tell the landlord to keep better care of it before she went seeing the doctor.

* * *

"Don´t you think that was a little hypocritical?" she heard Potter ask, but she didn´t turn around to face him, knowing exactly what he meant without even having to resort to the bond.

Draco had told Joan they´d see each other again when she knew very well they wouldn´t. She had lied, even though she´d accused Potter of doing the same thing the night before.

"We are all hypocrites" she answered calmly, sticking her hands in the pockets of her hoodie to keep them from the cold.

"What kind of answer is that?" Potter was frowning, she could tell from his tone.

Draco grimaced, knowing that there really was no answer. Why had she said that? Hope, maybe? What was she hoping for, exactly? Her mind was a letter soup these days, disordered and preoccupied, full of useless data and disturbing details...she had no time to ponder over some Muggle woman.

"_You saved her once, it´s only logical you care for what happens to her"_

Draco sighed. Potter was getting better and better at this mind connection thing, or maybe she was becoming more transparent as days rolled by. Carefully veiling her train of thought, she wondered if she should be worried or proud that her student was finally picking up on the lessons she was giving him.

"_Yeah" _she sent his way ". _I guess that´s true"_

"_She is your friend"_

Her friend? Looking up at the grey sky, Draco thought of her friends. Vince, Greg, Pansy, Theo, Blaise... her siblings, for lack of a better word, each of them locked inside their own tower under the vigilant watch of darkness, sneaking around in their own homes.

She already had friends to worry about. She had no time to waste worrying over some Muggle that didn´t remember her anymore, because she certainly didn´t feel guilty.

"_Don´t push it, Potter"_

"Come on" she said out loud, ignoring the boy´s chuckle, and walked a little faster ". If we hurry, we can catch the two thirty bus to the train station"

"Why are we going to the train station?" Potter asked, walking faster to keep up with her.

Draco gave him a sharp grin "We are going to the movies. I heard a cinema down town is showing My Left Foot. As I told you before, it reminds me of you"

Harry rolled his eyes.

* * *

**Hello! Sorry it took me so long. I think the next chapter will be a "back to Hogwarts" and maybe we´ll see a little more of Voldie´s evil plans, as well as some of Draco´s past.**

**Thank you for reading and for your reviews!**

**XOXO FiLau**


	5. Chapter 5

"_What do you see?_

_What do you see when you see me?_

_When lies become reality"_

_¿Qué ves? by Divididos_

* * *

Every afternoon, Harry and Somewhere sat in the backyard to watch Malfoy work.

Her deft hands danced around, picking up ingredients, chopping, slicing, smashing and unceremoniously dumping the remains into one of the five cauldrons lined up next to the table, never loosing rhythm, never slowing down, not even pausing to glance at the ancient potion book propped open at a random yellowed page, and all the while ranting about something or another to nobody in particular.

Once in a while, she would pause everything in order to pull out a crystal bottle of any size from somewhere under the table (where she probably kept an invisible yet vast collection of glass containers), pick a spoon from the wooden box branded intelligently as "Spoon Box", scoop up a calculated quantity of what was inside one of the cauldrons and carefully drip it into the bottle, which was recapped and promptly left on the edge of the table, where it would remain on precarious equilibrium until Malfoy took it to wherever it was meant to go.

"What are you brewing them for?" Harry asked one day.

Malfoy paused mid rant and stared at him, almost as if she hadn´t noticed he was there, her white face going faintly pink with embarrassment that was confirmed by the little wave of heat that coursed through the bond. Her stony facade was, as Harry had come to realise, much like the thin ice that covered deep lakes in the winter: it looked strong but was ridiculously easy to break.

"They are for the professor" she said, looking back down to the roots she was slicing, a new layer of ice forming just as the words fell from her lips, the rosy flush fading as suddenly as it had appeared.

"Snape?" Harry could not help but grimace at the name. Somewhere whined and bumped heads with him, hard. That meant that he disapproved.

"Professor Snape" Malfoy corrected for the thousandth time, knowing that it was useless but not willing to let him have his way ". And no. It´s for professor Dumbledore"

Harry perked up at that "Dumbledore? Why would Dumbledore ask you to brew potions for him?"

"Why would professor Snape?" Malfoy retorted, lifting an eyebrow.

"Can´t you just answer my questions without making up inquiries about my deductive skills?" Harry snapped, unable to hold his temper in check even though he knew Malfoy was getting back at him for catching her unawares earlier.

Undisturbed, she shrugged "I´m just saying. You care about what the Headmaster, who you would trust your life to, might be planning on using these potions for but you are uninterested in knowing what professor Snape wants them for?" uncapping a bottle, she shrugged again "That´s... weird. I thought you suspected professor Snape of being a spy, you should care about what he does"

"I do suspect him" Harry confessed, scratching Somewhere´s ear and earning a pleased whine from the hellhound ". Or I did, but..."

"_...But now I´m living in his house, playing with his dog, listening to his father´s stories, and I´m still alive"_

Malfoy hummed thoughtfully, slowly dripping a spoonful of what looked like chocolate fudge but certainly didn´t smell like it into a yellow-tinted glass bottle. Not the best choice of colours to mix. Harry was watching, transfixed, at the way the yellow glass made the brow sustenance look like what Dudley had once puked on the bathroom wall when he´d eaten all of Aunt Margret´s liquor-filled chocolate puppies when Malfoy asked:

"Do you trust him?"

With Malfoy, the simple questions were the trickiest to answer.

It would have been easy to say no, but that would not have been entirely true, would it? He remembered how Snape had tried to save him when the Quidditch balls had been enchanted, the way he´d protected them from professor Lupin that faithful full moon night.

"Dumbledore trusts him" he said at last ". He thinks that Snape is with us, but... I´m not sure. I do think he might be a spy, but I have no proof"

"Sounds like you want him to be evil" Malfoy said, but it was not judgemental or reproving: it was merely a statement.

_Did he?_

"Maybe I do" Harry muttered, surprising himself with how easily he could let the truth come out. If Snape was, in fact, evil, then at least one of the things he´d always been certain of would be true in the end. He leaned back on his chair and turned his face up but closed his eyes, not daring to look at the blue skies in fear that they might become grey again "What´s wrong with me?"

"Many things are wrong with you, Potter. Not least of all that sweater" Malfoy said nonchalantly, no doubt still dripping vomit into the bottle ". It is medicine for first degree burns, Potter! Haven´t you ever cracked a potions book?"

"I don´t like potions" said Harry, enduring Somewhere´s curious sniffs at his upturned face. The bad thing about a dog being so big was that he could reach just about anywhere.

Malfoy snorted "Or the teacher. Maybe you want him to be evil just so you can have an excuse to hate him"

This time, Harry snorted "You don´t need excuses with that man"

He sat up, wiping Somewhere´s drool from his face with his forearm. Malfoy had finished with the vomit (_burn medicine!)_ bottle and was now chopping blue flowers, throwing the petals into the big cauldron, which was beginning to emit a faint blue smoke.

"Okay, that´s it" Malfoy said with finality ". Come over here"

"Huh?" said Harry, looking up at her.

She cocked her head to the side and gave him her By All Gods You Are Stupid stare, which was just under the regular You Are A Moron stare "Come over here"

"Why?" Harry asked, but stood up anyway.

"Because you are an imbecile and I´m going to remedy that" Malfoy stated.

She took a handful of blue flowers and handed them to him along with a silver knife. It felt like a door closing

"This is _aconite_, also known as_ wolfsbane_, and it is the active component of Wolfsbane potion, which is the standard potion used to treat lycanthropes. I assume you know that, since you are friends with Professor Lupin and you are aware of his condition"

Harry´s eyes widened and he almost dropped what he was holding "How do you know about that?"

"Who do you think brews his potion when the Professor can´t?" Malfoy said off-handedly. Harry was speechless, but that didn´t matter, not really, because Malfoy was speech-full for the both of them. She gave him precise instructions to separate the flowers from the leafs and, as soon as he was doing it correctly, she began talking as she worked on the other potions "Okay, so, Wolfsbane. It doesn´t cure lycanthropy, but-don´t smash the bulbs- it eases the symptoms and makes the condition-yes, like that- much easier to live with. A lycanthrope needs to drink it every day of the week before full moon-not so rough! It´s not a lettuce!- for the effect to be..."

From then on, Somewhere sat there every afternoon, laughing silently at him.

* * *

There was a cracking noise, a surprised yelp and a wet thump, and by the time they all looked up from their work to see what had happened there was a robed lump on the ground, almost entirely covered by muddy and bloody sewer water, and surrounded by debris. A tumbling down, then.

"Get up" Grabbe commanded, kicking the lump on the ground with his booted foot, even though even he could tell that the guy was dead. If the impact hadn´t killed him, directly inhaling positively toxic water had probably done the job by now.

It was easy to think that odour and putrefaction was all there was to London once one took a week long road trip to the sewers, where the stale air seemed to bring one´s lungs closer to collapse with every breath. Rats and cockroaches were the regulars, here, where they could feast on the remains of their least fortunate next of kin and the occasional lost soul. They´d been getting a little more of that than usual, lately.

After he finally realised that the guy would in fact not wake up, he pointed a thick finger at one of the robed figures standing around.

"You" he barked ". Take it to the deposit. The rest of you, get back to work!"

Everybody stumbled over each other to do as they´d been told, not very keen on the possibility of being told twice. The boy Grabbe had pointed out had gone white as a sheet of paper, trembling slightly as he made his way to the corpse on the ground. Casting a levitation charm on it, he lifted it to the air and walked away, slowly making his way to the end of the tunnel with the dripping bulge waist high next to him.

He passed several other Death Eaters on his way, all of them immersed in their own tasks; slowly widening the tunnel and ridding it of imperfections, ramifying it in unknown but very much defined patterns, lighting up the torches at the sides and on the roof, taking care of the debris. The further down he went the more advanced the procedures were, to the point that the tunnel was twice as wide by the time he reached the opening to the cave where the deposit was, and there was no sewer water down here.

The deposit was about half a mile down the central tunnel, and it was nothing but a large hole where they threw whatever was left after the missions. Hair, bones, whole corpses, whatever needed to just disappear from sight winded up in there, left to rot and stink up the sewer atmosphere just a little bit more.

Even though the cave was well lit, the hole was always black, bottomless, and whereas the air was always stale in the sewers, the cave was always windy, the air current coming directly from the unending pit. No one was here but a lone figure standing on the edge. The boy tensed and stuttered to a stop when he recognized the white long hair and the aristocratic cane, the billowing long greatcoat and black scarf merely adding to the macabre postal picture.

"Why did you stop, lad?" Lucius Malfoy asked suddenly, his velvet smooth voice rising over the hum of the wind "The floating piece of trash is dripping blood on the floor. Get rid of it"

Fear gripped at his heart with icy fingers "Y-y-yes, s-sir" he stuttered out, and almost dropped the levitation charm in his haste to do as he was told. He reached the edge of the pit, trying very hard not to throw up when the disgusting smell, already hard to tolerate when standing further away, reached his nose. Even standing there, at the edge of the precipice, he could not see the bottom. With a flicker of his wrist, the corpse fell bonelessly into the everlasting darkness.

The sound of it touching ground never reached them. Instead, there was a loud, deafening roar, like thunder, that came from the depths of the abysm. It bounced against the walls of the cave and echoed away through the main tunnel, making the place tremble from floor to ceiling, chasing away the silence. A few yelps and screams of pain were heard in the distance, which meant there had been another collapse or two, a few more dead, more debris to lift, more trash to throw away. They were used to it.

"Sounds like she is unsatisfied" Lord Malfoy said thoughtfully, passing his cane from one hand to the other in an at once bored and restless gesture.

"Sir?" the boy inquired, his small voice almost impossible to hear over the bellow of the wind. Lord Malfoy turned to him and gave him a once over, curling his lip as if he were looking at something the cat had brought in before turning back to the abysm, but turned back to look at him with newfound interest almost at once, as if he´d just now noticed he was in the company of another human being.

"What is your name, boy?"

He hesitated "Greyjoy, sir. William Greyjoy"

"Tell me, William" the man began, taking one step closer to the edge. William did the same ", do you know an event horizon is?" William shook his head no and Malfoy smiled softly ". It is a place in spacetime where the pull of gravity becomes so great it cannot be reversed or fought with"

The boy shuffled his feet awkwardly and swallowed "I didn´t know that"

"It´s very interesting. You see, it is known as the point of no return" the man´s smile widened and William had a moment to cock his head to the side in confusion before Lord Malfoy finished ", and I´m afraid that you have reached it"

Without further ado, he used his cane to take the boy´s legs out from underneath him and thus send him falling down into the black hole, his both surprised and terrified scream resonating for a few minutes before disappearing entirely, erasing any and every evidence that he had ever been there.

Lord Malfoy stood still and silent, listening out for another bout of thunder. It never came. Satisfied, he put both hands on his cane and leaned forward, resting his weight on it entirely as he looked down the well, which´s inhabitant was once again sated and calm.

"I really hope this shit is worth it" a familiar nasal voice called behind him, an uneven set of footsteps threading closer. He didn´t even have to glance to know that the man was covering his nose with the white tissue he always kept in the pocket of his Muggle suit with one hand as he took his hat off with the other, the simple fact of having seen him and immediately known him to be a creature of habit enough to recreate the whole thing in his mind.

"It is" Malfoy drawled out, keeping his ears trained on the sound of boots on the stone ground behind him. He could distinctly appreciate various muffled whimpers, too, punctuated by loud thumps of something hitting the floor and crying out in pain ". I see you have kept your word"!

"Of course! I said I would!" the other man barked ". I kept my fucking side of the deal so you better keep yours, Malfoy!"

"Be patient, my friend" the blond man appeased.

"Patient!" his ´friend´ bristled "I should be ´patient´, you say?! I´ve been out all night doing your dirty work...!"

"Which is the only thing you have to do, Hector" Malfoy reminded him levelly, still not looking at him.

"And I still haven´t seen a Knut for it!" Hector shouted "How do I know this is going to pay out, huh? That it won´t be a failure like everything else your boss has done before..."

A pair of grey eyes turned to him and the man fell silent, quieted by the darkness in those orbs.

"Be careful what you say" Lucius warned levelly ". The Dark Lord hasn´t forgotten your offences against him, and neither have I" Considering Hector was sufficiently intimidated, he turned back to gaze at the abysm with a sigh ". You will see the fruit to your hard work soon, only not yet. Be patient" there was a pause, then ". How many did you bring?"

"Twenty-seven" Hector answered.

"You were supposed to bring twenty-eight" Malfoy gritted out through clenched teeth.

"We lost one on the way" Hector shrugged "You gave me a bunch of kids to do the job, they weren´t experienced"

Twenty seven would not do the trick, he needed one more. He whirled around, passing Hector other Death Eaters by on his way out of the cave, glancing at the twenty seven brown bags on the floor. twenty-seven.

Malfoy closed his eyes minutely, cursing the fucking incompetence of these people.

He had to do everything himself.

* * *

_She runs all the way back to the castle because she is in a hurry and she is scared, but she doesn´t know why, she just knows that if she doesn´t get there on time it´ll all be over, the clock will strike twelve and the goblin king will keep the baby forever and ever, tra-la-la._

_The labyrinth is bigger than she first thought it was, but it´s alright because she knows the way, the light is guiding her, she trusts the light. She runs and runs and runs until she reaches the door, but it´s guardian is dead: the crystal snake is lifelessly curled before the open silver door. A crow, black as the night, is eating it´s green eyes, savouring the emeralds in triumph, but it looks up as she approaches. It makes no noise, but it´s wise, piercing black eyes give her a warning, and the light she loves so much vanishes: she´s in this alone. _

_So be it._

_She jumps over the huge corpse of the serpent and runs into the house and the darkness is all-encompassing, but she knows the way, even though she misses the light. She knows where the baby is, so she runs up the stairs and across a hallway and she hurls out a spell and the huge door to the ball room opens. The baby is standing in the middle of the room, her bare feet whiter than the white tiles that cover the floor, her white face whiter than her white dress, her white hair whiter than her toothy grin._

"_I knew you´d come"_

_The baby is so white that she shines in the darkness, and she wants so badly to go closer, she wants to be near that light, so she takes a step closer, then another one and another one, until she is standing before the baby, looking down at her and feeling warmed with her light. She sees herself reflected on the baby´s big blue eyes and she feels at home, so much so that she smiles._

"_Everything will be alright"_

_The baby bursts up in flames, and the Gobbling King laughs._

* * *

"Fuck" Draco breathed out, rubbing her chest in an attempt to slow down her racing heartbeat. She really hoped that Potter hadn´t seen that.

She´d fallen from the side of the bed and landed on the floor in a tangle of sheets at some point during the nightmare, but she felt much too tired to try and move, so she just remained there on the floor, breathing hard and facing the ceiling. Closing her eyes, Draco sighed and reached her hand up to the bottle resting on the bedside table. It was nearly empty, but it would have to do.

She took a long pull from the bottle without sitting up, grimacing as the amber liquid burned it´s way down her throat. She hated nights like these, mainly because she could not fall back asleep after that particular nightmare and also because she could never stop thinking about it as she lay awake, her traitorous mind replaying the whole thing over and over. The dream, even after all these years, remained the same. The maze and the light were a new addition, but the skeleton lines were unchanging, always repeating themselves, sometimes in different order but never with another outcome. Everything always burned.

Taking a deep breath, Draco put the bottle aside and sat up with some difficulty, slowly working her way out of the stubborn grip her sheets had on her before raising herself to her feet. It was a good thing she hadn´t found her night gown the night before and had slept wearing an old cotton dress, because she certainly didn´t feel like pulling on her clothes right now.

Draco tiredly trailed to the door with heavy footsteps, nearly knocking the fire whiskey bottle over but missing it by an inch. She rested her forehead on the cool wood for a few seconds before pulling the door open, surprised to see Somewhere there, curled against it and groggily lifting his massive head from his paws to blink at her.

"I locked you out?" Draco asked softly, kneeling down to cradle the hellhound´s head between both of her arms and kiss his nose "You slept in the hallway?"

Somewhere answered by yawning immensely. She laughed and pulled him up, leading him across the hall, but she paused on her way to the stairs, ducking her head into Potter´s room to check if he´d been awoken by her nightmare. Buried under a pile of blankets, Potter was snoring softly, giving no sign of having been disturbed. Be it by lack of previous thought or poor distribution, Potter´s pale feet were the only bit of him exposed to the cold night air.

Sighing, Draco picked up a spare blanket from the closet, covered him completely, briefly paused on her way to the door to wonder how he breathed under all that fabric and got back out to the hallway, where Somewhere had once again lain on the floor to sleep. She pulled the protesting canine up and lead him downstairs to their favourite spot on the carpet before the fireplace. Draco sat down on the floor with a random book she´d taken from the table, and smiled when Somewhere curled protectively around her.

She tried to read, but the words kept tumbling over each other, making no sense. She wondered if it was too early to wake Potter up for a lesson, but a glance at the wooden clock hanging over the fireplace told her it was. She contemplated waking him up anyway, but she knew she´d been pushing him far too much and he needed to rest.

Draco was very surprised, and more than a little pleased, with the way Potter was progressing. He wasn´t excellent, or even particularly talented, but considering the fact that the guy had been broadcasting his thoughts to anybody who cared to listen before the lessons had started, his progress was something to be celebrated. Maybe she´d cancel today´s lesson... Potter could probably use a break.

Damn... it was even too early to start up breakfast. What was she going to do until the sun rose? Draco sighed, letting the back of her head rest against Somewhere. She could start working on that new poison Severus had asked, but that meant going to the backyard, and it was probably cold outside. That left the option of reading, but she didn´t feel like reading fairytales and that was the one book she had at hand here... she was much too comfortable to move...

Somewhere kicked his back paw in distress, and Draco rubbed his head soothingly, wondering if hellhounds had nightmares, too. Almost instantly, Somewhere fell back into peaceful sleep. It would be hours before the sun rose, but she´d keep her friend company until then.

"Merlin, you are pathetic" came an all too familiar voice from the fireplace, and Draco looked up in time to see Pansy´s annoyed face form between the flames ". You are moping again"

"Am not" Draco argued, indignant ". Curse the day I told you you were free to call me here any time you wanted"

"Oh, please, it´s not like you are doing anything important" the fire image spitted ". You´re just sitting there feeling sorry for yourself"

"I told you I´m not, I just... can´t sleep"

"Is it that nightmare again?" Pansy asked softly, and Draco thought that she must be looking really bad for her friend to think she needed to be understanding.

"Yes" she answered, not looking at the fire ". But it doesn´t matter, it´s just my mind playing tricks on me"

"How are things going with Potter? Have you killed him yet?"

"No" Draco answered, annoyed that everyone thought she could not reign her temper.

"Well, hurry up already! Theo and I got a bet going, and I really don´t want to lose this one" Pansy laughed as Draco spluttered in an undignified manner.

"Stop making bets about me!"

"Oh, but it´s so fun to watch you squirm"

"Screw you" Draco told her, but she smiled against her own wishes. Then she remembered the time, and her smile vanished "Why are you calling in so late?" Pansy seemed to hesitate. Draco sat up straighter "Panse?"

"Etienne was called on his first mission yesterday" the black haired girl whispered and not even the crackle of the flames could hide the quivering in her voice ". He came back with his robes all bloody earlier tonight, and he would not speak to anyone, not even me"

"Was he hurt?" Draco asked hopefully, and her heart sank for her friend when the other girl shook her head.

"The blood wasn´t his, I just know" she said, sobbing now, as if she could not hold it back anymore ". I´m scared... I can´t escape. I´m next, am I not?"

_Yes, _Draco thought, but she could not say that. It was useless to say that, when they both knew that it was true. They were next, give or take a year or so the calling would come to them, because there was no stopping it, only delaying what was unavoidable, and Pansy didn´t need to hear that.

She looked at her friend´s scared face moulded in the fire, and wanted so badly to say that it would all be alright, but how could she say that, when deep down she wasn´t even sure herself? She wanted everything to be alright, wanted the world to start going the right way, but how could everything turn out fine when so many bad things had happened?

"_There´s good in the world"_ she remembered Cedric saying, and for a moment Draco could almost see him sitting next to her, smiling soothingly while he wore that horrible, wonderful Hufflepuf scarf of his "_.Sometimes it´s hard to see it, but it´s there, and that is worth fighting for"_

Draco looked back up at Pansy´s troubled eyes, and she wanted to be there with her, hold her hand, wipe away her tears. _Is that enough good?_

_I´ll protect you, _she wanted to say, _It´ll be alright._

"I love you" was what came out ". We´ll find a way"

* * *

Malfoy, Harry had come to realise, belonged to a new species of blond reptiles that were capable of speaking twenty-four hours a day every day without pausing for breath.

She was always talking, or emitting some sort of sound, always rambling on about whatever was in her mind, be it a new book she was reading or a particularly interesting potion she was working on. Or her dislike for Harry´s clothes, which was also one of her favourite ramble topics.

She didn´t stop, not even when she was unaccompanied. She always spoke with the care a madwoman had when giving a lecture to her imaginary students, explaining every complex concept carefully and gesticulating with her hands. Maybe someday Malfoy would make a good teacher, but right now she was just plain crazy.

"Eccentric" Lord Snape supplied, smiling amusedly as they sat on the porch, him on his chair and Harry on a step, watching Malfoy walk the grounds in the search of some plant she had misplaced. She was animatedly (and one sided-ly) conversing with Somewhere, who obediently trailed behind her ". Common people with unusual tendencies are regarded as "crazy", those of us who are disgustingly rich have the luxury of calling ourselves "eccentric", my dear Harry"

Said the century old man who was smoking dubious "herbs" on a snake shaped pipe. It was unsurprisingly believable.

"Eccentricity can only explain so much" Harry argued ": she is definitely insane. I´m starting to think she belongs in a padded cell"

"Now, that would be fun to watch"

"You know that I can hear you, right?" Malfoy told them, hand on her hip, white dress covered in mud from where she´d been kneeling on the wet ground. Hanging from her shoulder was what she called basket bag (a basket with a strap), which was overflowing with twigs, branches and flowers. That, along with her waist long braids, made her look like the lost sister of Pippi Longstocking "And I can specially hear you, Potter"

"You cannot blame the boy, Draco" Lord Snape said, exhaling a long curl of sweet-scented smoke to the air ". You are a rather unusual bird"

"Said Woody Woodpecker" Malfoy muttered. Hehe-hehé-he was implied.

"That doesn´t take away the fact that you are insane" Harry stated. Malfoy sent him an evil look but sat next to him on the step nonetheless, pulling the basket to her lap and rummaging through the contents, not even flinching when Somewhere jumped over her to get to his favoured spot next to Lord Snape´s chair.

"I won´t dignify that with a response" she said as she pulled out an apple from the bottom of the basket. She´d been weird all day, downcast and gloomy, and she´d cancelled the day´s lesson, which was unbelievable in on itself.

Not looking up, she threw the apple at Lord Snape, and Harry whirled around in alarm just in time to see him catch it one handed.

"Look at that" said the old man, awed ". Even in my old age, I have excellent reflexes. I officially "rock", as you children say"

"You know what you also have in your old age?" Malfoy asked, thrusting a ridiculously red apple out to a laughing Harry ". Modesty. Tons and tons of it"

"When you reach my level of genius, caterpillar, you realise bragging is something only regular folk do" Lord Snape retorted, taking a nibble at his apple, mirth dancing in his black eyes.

Shaking his head, Harry made to take a bite of his delicious looking apple when Malfoy´s eyes widened and she lunged for it.

"Wait!" she ordered, snatching it away before it found it´s way to Harry´s mouth.

Because things like that didn´t usually happen, Harry was slightly surprised by this and found himself poised to eat a fruit that wasn´t actually there, mouth open and everything. This made Lord Snape, who seemed to think this was all very normal, laugh very much at him.

Somewhere cocked his head in confusion. That was something Harry could relate to.

"Here" Malfoy said, taking out an admittedly less shiny apple and thrusting it to him after she had dropped the other one back into the depths of the basket bag in a way that suggested she did that often. She even waved the fruit around when he failed to grab it.

"What did just happen?" Harry asked slowly to anyone who cared to answer.

"I´m afraid you almost died, lad" Lord Snape stopped laughing long enough to inform him, then promptly started laughing again ". Ah, you should have seen your face..."

Harry gave up starring at him in order to stare at Malfoy, who was eating her apple while being uncharacteristically silent "What is he talking about?"

She was decidedly avoiding his eyes, but she shrugged and swallowed before she answered "Well...um... I might have accidentally given you a..." she trailed off in an unintelligible mumble, made even more unintelligible by the fact that Lord Snape laughed with renewed bouts of hilariousness at it. Harry tried to peek into her mind, but her walls were up high full force.

"A what?" he tried asking instead, and Malfoy minutely closed her eyes.

"Apoisonedapple!" she blurted out ". But I realised on time! Nothing happened, not really, no tragedy whatsoever in today's records! Now, will you look at the time! I have to make lunch, be in the kitchen if you need me!"

That said, she bolted back into the house, narrowly avoiding Somewhere´s tail.

"Malfoy!" Harry bellowed, running after her and leaving behind a laughing Lord Snape, a confused but much too comfortable to move Somewhere and a perfectly edible apple that wasn´t poisoned.

"It wouldn´t have killed you!" Malfoy shouted in her own defence as she rounded the corner at the end of the hallway, slipping on the floor and almost running straight to the wall.

As soon as the words left her lips Harry felt encyclopaedic knowledge slip into his own mind through the bond; book pages and scraps of paper that proved that Malfoy wasn´t lying: poisoned apples grew on a very rare kind of Norse Apple trees and weren´t deadly, but were a very powerful sedative that caused dreamless sleep of indefinite duration. Because that was so much better.

"I´m going to kill you, Malfoy!"

* * *

"I´m sure that if you stare at him with just a little bit more hatred, he´ll spontaneously combust"

Remus started, nearly dropping his teacup which had been suspended midway to his lips for the past ten minutes, never reaching it´s destination. Sirius shook his head, sitting on the chair next to him as settled his coffee cup on the table.

"I don´t know what you are talking about" Remus told him calmly and unconvincingly, taking a sip of his probably cold beverage ". I just spaced out, is all"

"Yeah, right, and your sightless eyes just casually remained trained on Pink Floyd and her new friend all afternoon ´cause they happened to be there" Sirius rolled his eyes ". Don´t you ever get tired of lying to yourself? You like her"

"Of course not" his friend said, but there was no conviction in his tone and his tired eyes were back on the two people who sat on the couch by the door, chatting amiably. Tonks and the Westbrook boy had gotten on almost immediately, which was not surprising, considering he was the only one around who was about the pink haired girl´s age.

"I think you should tell her" Sirius said for what was probably the twentieth time, at least.

Remus sighed, tearing his eyes away to focus on his friend "I´m too dangerous for her"

"Whatever happened to ´I don´t like her´?" Sirius lifted an eyebrow, grinning lopsidedly.

"Well, that too" his friend amended quickly ". If I did like her, which I don´t, I´d be too dangerous for her"

"She´s an auror!"

"I´d still be too old for her"

"You think too much, Moony"

"You think too little, Padfoot!"

They stared at each other in defiance, but decided they were both much too tired and old to fall out with each other now and averted their eyes with a shared sigh and a chuckle.

"Maybe, put together, we would make a normal person, don´t you think?" Remus mused, shaking his mug and making the muddy water he liked calling tea swirl ominously at the bottom.

"Maybe, but...normal is boring. I like to think of myself as outstanding"

His friend laughed, the easy sound taking away years from his pale face "Outstanding?"

"Well, maybe not outstanding... definitely distinguished. Above average, at the very least, and if that´s me, then you... you too, you know?"

"Above the average, huh?" his friend smiled and lifted his mug ". Here´s to that, then"

Sirius lifted his own mug and clinked it with Remus´ "Above the average totally gets the girl, you know, even if he is too old" he pointed out.

"I´m sure that is very prized information. I´ll keep it in mind"

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, the only thing interrupting the peace and quiet being the low, voices of the other two people in the room, as well as the occasional noise made by the other people in the house, which´s guest quantity was escalating by the day. The House of Black had never been so full of life, and Sirius could not help but feel sorry about the circumstances that had pulled so many people together.

"Has anybody else disappeared?" he asked softly, knowing the answer but still not able to help himself.

Remus let out a seemingly painful sigh, his glassy eyes damp with sadness "They had been taking small amounts of people so far, but an orphanage in Surrey was emptied last Thursday. Almost a thirty children, and the Ministry keeps saying it´s nothing but a Muggle terrorist act"

"Fudge will keep denying everything for as long as he can" Sirius said, feeling sick ". But he would not be able to lie to everyone if everyone didn´t want to be fooled"

"People want to believe what´s best for themselves" Remus told him, drinking the remains of his now cold tea and leaving the mug on the table ". Let´s just hope that they´ll see the light, when the moment is right"

Sirius hummed into his mug in agreement "I would like to know what they are taking so many people for. No spell that I know of requires so much life"

"I´m not so sure it´s a spell anymore" Remus murmured thoughtfully ". What if they are trying to summon something? Or create something?"

"Like a demon... or a spirit?" Sirius suggested, cold dread finding place in the pit of his stomach. He remembered demon summoning nights, and he really didn´t want to think something like that was happening out there "Neither of those need so much life. It has to be something different. Something worse"

"Like what?"

Sirius closed his eyes and drew in a shaky breath "I don´t know"

* * *

The sun began going down and tinted the world in beautiful tones of red and orange, making the fields around the Cottage seem on fire. Somewhere was running around, barking with enthusiasm as he chased some rabbit or squirrel, his black fur shining and his long tail wagging.

It seemed almost impossible, but no houses or signs of civilisation could be spotted in any direction, the absolute wildness surrounding them and isolating them from the outside world stretching on forever. Harry yawned loudly and smiled when he heard Malfoy´s imperative voice call Somewhere back into the house.

Even though it worked and looked like a regular, non-magical home, some details, not least of all the huge dog strutting down the hallways, made it very clear that the Cottage was by no means the home of Muggles.

Every Friday, at four o´clock, the old piano in the sitting room would creak to life and play Beethoven´s Spring, accompanied by the equally old violin that inhabited Malfoy´s bedroom. According to Lord Snape, they had belonged to a marriage of musicians that had died at the same time but on different places a Friday afternoon, and their spirit still resided within their instruments, commemorating their love with the magic of their favourite song even though they could not be reunited.

"Why don´t you put them both in the same room?" Harry had asked, moved by the tragically romantic tale and the beautiful song.

"We tried, once" Malfoy had answered, her long fingers tapping the arm of the couch along with the piano notes ", but they got so happy they played Spring all day and all night for a week. It was a nightmare"

"Eventually, my son tried to gently convince them that enough was enough" Lord Snape recalled, smiling amusedly ". When that didn´t work, he threatened to cut their strings if they didn´t stop"

"And when that didn´t work, he banished the violin to my room" Malfoy finished, smiling as well ". The original plan was to banish the piano, but the violin got all weepy and started playing Élégie so we took him instead"

The fact that she referred to the violin as if it were an actual person did not escape him, but Harry had already ceased to find Malfoy´s weirdness... well, weird.

Another thing that distinguished the Cottage from other houses was it´s very particular residents and visitors, next to which both Malfoy and Lord Snape came across as normal.

A winged Ryukyu mouse, product of an alchemic experiment gone wrong, lived inside an old yellow boot that was hung from the lowest branch of a sugared cherry tree outside the kitchen window by the shoelaces, was the most notable. The small creature, whose name was O´Malley, flew inside while Malfoy cooked and was given an affective pat and a slice of cheese, after which it liked to flutter to wherever Harry was sitting and sniff his hand before returning to it´s place of residence with a bird-like squeal.

Other, less outgoing creatures, inhabited the house as well: a shy gnome whose appointed task was handing Lord Snape´s spare spectacles to him; a pink fairy that carried a candle around in the library; and a pixie family that lived in the apple tree in the backyard but would not dare moving on to the other trees, among others. They were all fed and talked to on a regular basis by Malfoy, who was oddly fond of animals and magical creatures even though she hadn´t seemed to like Hagrid´s subject all that much.

Harry yawned again and took of his glasses to rub at his eyes with the back of his hand. The sun had gone lower and the first stars had begun dotting the sky. He was so far up that it felt as if he coud touch them if he reached high enough.

The most magically wonderful thing about the house was that even though from the outside it looked only two stories high, there was a staircase that spiralled upwards and upwards until they reached a room made out of charmed glass that gave it´s occupant a panoramic view of the fields that surrounded the house and made for a great star gazing observatory. Malfoy called it the Planetarium, and it had quickly become Harry´s favourite place to spend late afternoons.

Up here, leaning against the railing and feeling the wind in his hair, he could think about everything and nothing at once, feeling at ease in this place so that was so close to the skies. It wasn´t as high as Astronomy Tower, but it did the trick.

The time to go back to school was coming and Harry, to his own surprise, found himself dreading everything that brought along. His friends´ letters told him that they were excited to finally see him again, and he really wanted to see them, too, but he had realised that it was the rest of the world that he did not want to face yet, not only because they were bound to either pity him or, god forbid, try to be supportive; but because he also knew that the statement he had made the year before had been treated by the press as the delusions of a scared kid, and he could not help but dread what people had to say about that.

Would they believe him or would they think him insane? Harry had only been telling the truth when he had said that Voldemort had killed Cedric, that he had returned as powerful as ever, but he wasn´t foolish: people would not want to believe that.

"_You are angsting again" _

Malfoy´s light footsteps were almost impossible to hear as she walked all the way to the railing and leaned on it beside him, her long hair tinted red by the light.

"_I guess I can´t really help it" _

Malfoy snorted, not fooled at all _"You don´t want to help it. It´s like you think it is your responsibility or something"_

Harry didn´t answer, keeping his mind as clear as he could, just as she had taught him.

"It´ll be alright" Malfoy said out loud, and sighed ". People will be afraid to believe and it will take them some time, but it´ll be alright"

"What if we don´t have time?" Harry asked, relieved to at last let all his worries come out in the open.

"Then we will make time" she answered stubbornly ". There´s no point in worrying so much"

Harry smiled "Who would have said you´d turn out to be such an optimist?"

Malfoy snorted "I´m not an optimist" Malfoy argued". I´m normal. Maybe you are just too much of a pessimist"

"When we go back to Hogwarts" Harry began after a pause ", what will happen with you? Technically, you are still a bitch, but you are a much nicer bitch now and I would like that to continue"

"Why, thank you for your compliment, Potter" she told him with a laugh ". That was the strangest petition of friendship I have ever heard. You really have to work on those"

"Oh, please, yours was so much worse, what with you insulting my first friend and all" Harry argued, grinning.

"Good point" Malfoy conceded ". For the record, it was on purpose"

"You didn´t want to be my friend? I´m wounded"

"It was a bit more complicated than that" she said, and sighed ". I guess we could be friends. I still think you are a self righteous moron, but I can overlook that in favor of war effort"

"I can live with you being a bitch, then"

They remained in comfortable silence for a while, watching the sun go down behind the hills. When it was almost set, Harry saw two figures in the distance.

"Looks like we have company" Malfoy muttered, narrowing her eyes to see better.

At first they were nothing but specks, shapeless, but as they got closer Harry saw the flutter of wings, and recognized the birds as Hogwarts´ standard messengers. He thought that they would not see them, since he himself could not see the tower when he was outside, but the owls flew straight to them, trespassing the enchanted glass and landing gracefully on the railing between them. They seemed very tired, and each of them had a letter, marked with Hogwarts crest, tied to it´s leg.

"This place was first thought up as an owlery" Malfoy explained, gently untying her letter ", but the height made the birds become disoriented" she frowned ". Yours looks more tired than mine"

"She probably went looking for me at my Uncle´s house" Harry commented, giving the grumpy bird an apologetic pat as he pulled his letter free.

"There´s bird food on that tree" Malfoy informed, then proceeded to shoo them as if they were some sort of pest. The owls hooted indignantly and, annoyed, flew to the nut tree behind the house. Malfoy took out her supply list and went through with a critical eye, put it back into the envelope and pulled out another piece of paper.

"I am brilliant" she announced after reading it, lifting her eyes and grinning a grin that could light up a city.

"I am beginning to think modesty is a foreign concept in this house" Harry mused out loud. Malfoy laughed and thrust the piece of paper at him. Harry took it. After he read the few lines, his eyes widened ". You are a Prefect?"

"Is that incredulousness I hear? Nasty, nasty, ten points from Gryffindor, muahahahahaha!"

Harry rolled his eyes even though Malfoy´s evil laughter creeped him out a little "One would think Snape knows that you are a power junkie. And you can´t take points from other houses. There´s a rule about that"

"So what? I´ll change it" She shrugged ". Oh, this is going to be so fun" she clapped her hands and all but glowed with sheer delight.

"Right" Harry shook his head "I can´t believe I´m saying this, but I kind of feel sorry for Slytherin"

"Keep saying things like that and you´ll be the first person I pester once I take care of that rule" Malfoy informed him darkly, but the whole effect was ruined when she yawned ". People can´t see us together… we´ll have to figure out a way to get this stuff without being noticed"

"Right" Harry agreed, yawning as well.

The sky was clear at last, any trace of clouds forgotten. Here, in the middle of nowhere, it looked like velvet fabric, speckled with shiny fairy dust. Harry turned away from it and saw that Malfoy was looking up, the stars reflecting on her grey eyes.

"You are not evil, right?" he asked, the words coming out of his mouth before he had any chance to stop them.

Malfoy looked at him straight in the eye and blinked, but she didn´t crack a joke.

"No" she said, loud and clear, because she knew very well that Harry just needed to know ", I´m not. Why do you ask? ´cause of the whole poison thing? I told you it was an accident"

"No, it´s not about that" Harry said, eyes straying away from the stars in her eyes to the stars on the sky.

How could he explain his dread to her? How could he tell her of the turf war he was having with himself? He wanted to go back to Hogwarts, it was his home, but he was frightened. And he now knew that he would rather hide out here for the rest of his life than face the world of cluelessness that waited for him out there.

"Very well, then" Malfoy said, but didn´t push it, and she didn´t try to get answers directly from his open channel. She was giving him the opportunity to dodge the subject: something very rare. Which meant that she already knew everything.

Harry sighed "I really hope you are right"

"Of course I am" she reassured". I´m not evil and I´m brilliant"

He rolled his eyes "Not about that, about…"

"I´m right about that too" Malfoy said, glancing minutely at him before looking back at the sky ". _You´ll see"_

The last days of his stay at the Cottage seemed to breeze by. Between Occlumency lessons (which were going very well and were surprisingly enjoyable, even if Harry didn´t feel like he was learning much of anything), long conversations with Lord Snape (who didn't bother to hide the fact that he wasn´t very happy about being left alone and liked making Harry feel guilty), playing with Somewhere (who didn´t know he was leaving so his behavior remained unchanging) and listening to Malfoy talk about more or less everything there was to talk about, Harry almost didn´t have any time to feel anxious about returning to Hogwarts.

"You talk a lot too, you know" Malfoy had said one afternoon. They had been sitting under the Norse Apple tree and she´d been telling him all the properties of poisoned apples while they peeled and chopped the fruits for potions use.

"Not as much as you" Harry had retorted, batting Somewhere´s paw away from the bowl that held the diced fruit and earning a disappointed whine for his trouble.

"Of course not. I have a gift"

"You are also very vane. Is that a gift, too?"

"No, that´s just practice"

Harry´d laughed.

Almost without him noticing, the day had come.

They agreed that the best way to go to magical London and get all of the supplies they needed without getting unwanted attention was to wait to the last possible minute to do so, since by that time Diagon Alley would be either empty of any kind of life form or overflowing with last minute shoppers. A pair of average sized teens would go unnoticed in either of those situations and, if the need for cover should arise, Harry always kept his invisibility cloak in his pocket.

"This explains so much" Malfoy said, watching Harry carefully fold his father´s cloak as she sullenly lounged on his bed. If she wanted to talk to you, Malfoy would follow you to the very ends of the earth, no matter how inappropriate or invasive those ends might be ". No wonder McGonagall never caught you on those mysterious trips of yours"

"I was battling evil and bad things" Harry recited. Malfoy lifted an incredulous eyebrow ". That´s my story. I´m sticking to it"

"How old is it?" she asked, stretching her arms up as if she wanted to touch the ceiling.

"It was my father´s" he said, lifting all his clothes from the floor and throwing them inside his open trunk. One less thing to do before heading for the station the next day. He picked a dubiously clean shirt up for inspection". Sirius said he already had it when he was at school". Deciding it was clean enough, he threw it in the trunk.

Malfoy´s face was priceless.

"Are you seriously not going to wash that? You are going to become a literal legged fungus if you…" her eyes widened and she sat up "He had it when he was at school? That was twenty years ago! It must have been pretty well made for it to last so long"

Harry frowned "What do mean? Are they supposed to be short lived?"

"No, it´s not that, it´s just that they deteriorate with time. They get more opaque, but yours looks new" she laid back on the pillows ". I wonder where your dad got it"

He sighed "I wonder about that too"

Malfoy glanced at him, looking like she was about to ask something, but just then Hedwig came flying through the window and landed at the foot of the bed, causing her to yelp and move closer to the headboard, sitting with her knees to her chest.

Harry stared.

"Why don´t you like owls?" he asked.

"Why do you think that?" Malfoy retorted, as if she weren´t trying to merge with the headboard, but pointing that out would be useless, so Harry shrugged.

"You have a winged mouse, a pair of scented crows, a blue flamingo and an undead Toucan, but no owls" the undead Toucan was perpetually perched on the back of a chair in the library and was highly disturbing, what with it´s habit of snapping it´s beak at intruders as they passed it by.

"I just don´t like them" Malfoy said, and that was that, but she was lying.

The good thing about sharing a mind bond with Malfoy was that he could sometimes tell when she was lying, but she lied so much that sometimes Harry knew he had to just let it lie. Ha-ha, lie.

More often than not, Harry wondered who was the bigger lie. Was it Malfoy Mark one, certified bully that made Hogwarts a living hell? Or was it Malfoy Mark two, who talked all day and loved old music? He didn´t know, but he hoped someday he would find out. Sighing, he sat next to Hedwig, who hooted indignantly when the bed dipped and she was crushed against his side, to collect the letter she had brought.

"In Japanese mythology, there are these spirits called Tattari Mokke" Malfoy muttered after a pause. Harry looked up at her, but she was looking at Hedwig ". They are the spirits of children that were murdered by their own parents and have come back in the form of owls. It is said that the hoot of an owl is actually the child´s cry"

Harry looked down at Hedwig, who was absolutely oblivious to all the attention she was getting and was fluffing up her wing feathers and inspecting them for bugs "That´s… horrible" Malfoy hummed in agreement. ". But that´s just a story, right?"

She shrugged "I don´t know. I just read it once and it stuck" she paused ". Yours is particularly disturbing"

Harry frowned "Hedwig is no one´s reincarnation". As if to show she agreed, the bird hooted and flew closer to Malfoy, landing on the headboard and cocking her head to the side.

"Yeah, that´s not creepy at all" the blond girl said, warily looking at the snowy owl, but she didn´t move, so Harry figured it was okay. Shaking his head, he opened his letter.

"It´s Hermione" he said cheerfully ". Looks like she´s a prefect too"

"Big surprise" Malfoy commented sarcastically, poking Hadwig´s side with her middle finger.

"Ron´s the other Gryffindor prefect"

"The Weasel?" Malfoy gaped, incredulous.

"Don´t call him that" Harry glared at her ". Ron´s a responsible guy"

"You have a severely crooked concept of the word responsible" she said, pulling on Hedwig´s wing to inspect it´s length. The owl magnanimously let her.

"Right, and you…" Harry began to retort, but what he read next on the letter made him go quiet.

"What about me?" he heard Malfoy ask, but her voice sounded distant "Potter? What´s wrong?"

"Twenty-nine …" he swallowed, his throat suddenly dry ". Twenty-nine … children disappeared from an orphanage two weeks ago"

Malfoy didn´t answer. Harry looked up and saw that she was as white as her hair, which was as white as Hedwig´s feathers, which was very white indeed. It hurt to look at her.

He laid back on the bed, crumpling the letter in his fist, not caring about what was left to read, and threw his arm over his eyes. When he opened them, he was sitting cross-legged on the fluffy carpet of the Room, and Malfoy was sitting in front of him, just as colorless as before. It still hurt to look at her.

"Then don´t look" she snapped, but it was quiet, and she didn´t put any heart in it. That was even worse.

Harry got up and walked to the stained glass window, trying very hard to suppress the need to pace. He pressed his hands to the dragon´s fire and felt raindrops hit the other side of the cold surface. Sighing, he pressed his forehead against it. Any semblance of peace left in here was Malfoy´s doing; he was much too angry and frustrated and impotent to calm himself down and she knew it, so she´d brought him here to help.

Harry twisted the yellow ribbon between his fingers and tried to calm down, tried very hard, but it wouldn´t work. His mind kept returning to those few words in Hermione´s letter. Twenty-nine…

"What is he taking people for?" he asked, his anger as hot as the fire the dragon was spitting looked.

"I don´t know"

"But you know how to find out" Harry stated rather than asked.

And Malfoy was ice, she was winter where he was summer, but the snow that surrounded her was deadly.

"Yeah, I do"

* * *

**Hello!**

**Sorry it took me so long, but I had some technical difficulties with my beloved computer. I promise, and this time I will deliver, that there will be more action on the next chapter!**

**Thank you for giving my story some of your time!**

**XOXO FiLau**

**P.S: I got the Tatari Mokke thing from Megaten videogames, so I´m not sure if that is actually a part of Japanese Mythology, but I guess it doesn´t matter. And Draco watches many movies, so I guessed her dreams should have references to them (The Labyrinth, this time, haha). **


	6. Chapter 6

_"Tender is the ghost_

_the ghost I love the most..._

_Hiding from the sun_

_waiting for the night to come..."_

_"Tender" by Blur_

* * *

As soon as the world rematerialized around him, the sweet scent of flowers replaced that of stale smelling alleys; the chants of crickets and frogs out for a midnight hunt the most gratifying sound to reach his ears after weeks of nothing but the insufferable noise of London.

There was no denying it: he was home, and that felt good, even if it was only for a night.

Severus rose himself from his crouched position next to the Portkey in a non very graceful manner, feeling all the bones in his body creak like the library door on rainy days as he heartily thanked all gods that Draco wasn´t there to laugh at him and call him an old man. Sighing, he slowly began to make his way to the front door, minding the mud and nearly falling into a puddle when his foot got caught on a vine when he raised it for the first step. When his foot didn´t come loose at the first pull, he looked down to see that two more vines had wrapped around it. They were purple and had yellow dots everywhere, and more and more of them were coming to join the fun. Norwegian cuffy vines.

Home sweet home.

"I keep cutting them, but they keep re-growing" his father´s voice carried from the porch, where the old man was sitting as he smoked his pipe and looked at him, amused. Somewhere rose from his place at Lord Snape´s feet to give him some help ". These sort of things thrive on rain water"

"It´s been raining an awful lot lately" Severus said as the hellhound´s jaws closed around the lot of the vines and pulled. Sharp teeth tore through them and he was free, but not without a rather impressive amount of drool and… plant juice on his black robes. Ew.

"True, true" his father smiled, letting the blue smoke go out his nostrils ". A strange phenomena caused by global warming, according to the Daily Prophet"

Severus snorted, climbing up the steps after Somewhere "Complete and absolute bollocks"

"Yes, well, it´s not the first time rain falls hard over the lot of us" his father said, wise black eyes looking him up and down, checking for injury, most likely ", and we can´t always know why. We can only button up our cloaks and wait it out"

"And what if it doesn´t stop?'' the son asked, sitting down on the chair next to his father with a sigh. Panting happily, Somewhere sat on the floor between them "What if it keeps raining forever? Will we keep walking on with the rain weighting on us for years on end?"

"That depends on the road we walk" the old man countered ". And the cloak we wear"

Sev rolled his eyes "You have an answer for everything"

"Silver tongues are a family trade, even though they tend to skip a generation"

"Mine is made of led, is that what you imply?"

"Oh, yes, my dear son" Lord Snape chuckled ". But that goddaughter of yours has a tongue to match her eyes and hair. If we are lucky, it will keep her and her friend out of harm´s way for a while"

Severus narrowed his eyes "Her friend?"

His father sighed.

"They are planning something, those two; I just know it" he said ". Having been a mischievous child myself I can identify the signs, no matter how faint. A Gryffindor and a Slytherin… a recipe for disaster. They are going to leave, probably tomorrow, and I bet both of my eyes that she won´t even wake me to say goodbye. She got that from you"

"Draco can take care of herself" Severus assured. That he knew for sure ". And Potter might be as much a moron as his father and godfather were before him, but the boy is a survivor"

"I´m sure you are right. But somehow I just know that you are not here to talk about those two"

Severus sighed. His father knew him very well. Classes were on in two days, but the Order had given him one last mission. He would have proffered to go up to Draco´s room, wake her up and have a late dinner, or an early breakfast, than sit with his father on the porch and discuss his investigation subject, but he had no choice. He had looked everywhere, but he had not found the information he was seeking, hadn´t even caught a glimpse. Perhaps Lord Snape could shed some light on the matter, in the same way he had done many a time before.

He would leave before dawn and Draco would not know he´d been there, and he´d only see her once they were back at Hogwarts.

With one last longing look at the front door, he soldiered on.

"What do you know about dragons?"

* * *

His voice, low and nasal and loved, carried up to her room loud and clear, and she was putting on her boots and pulling a sweater over her head, like her body knew exactly what she had to do without any need for her brain to give out the signals. A broad smile drew itself on her face, and suddenly Draco wasn´t so tired anymore.

Not that she´d missed him, or anything like that.

She followed Sev´s voice down the stairs, chuckling because, of course, he was complaining. She had almost made it to the front door, when his question made her stop dead on her tracks.

"What do you know about dragons?"

Dragons? Why was he wondering about dragons? Had this something to do about all the people that had gone missing? Draco bit her lip. She wanted to see Sev, wanted to talk to him, but she knew that if this matter was so important as too come alone at night to speak to Lord Snape, he would shut up about it as soon as she made her presence known.

Silent as a shadow, she curled next to the door and listened.

"Not much, really" Lord Snape replied after a thoughtful pause. Draco could imagine the smoke swirling upwards from the old man´s nostrils ". Not much more than what you know. I am not a specialist: Albus was the one that took dragons on as his research subject"

"And yet he could not answer my questions" Severus sounded tired.

"Dragons don´t habitually eat people, if that is what you are wondering" the older Snape said ". We are too bony for their taste. And even if Mr. Riddle has acquired a people-eating pet dragon… where is he keeping it? In the back yard of some old mansion? It´s not very practical"

Lord Snape had a point. Dragons were wild creatures: freedom was in their nature. A chained dragon became angry and an angry dragon… well, one only needed to remember the Triwizard Tournament. Those creatures needed flight like they needed air, and there had been no sightings of black wings in London in at least a century. The last dragon to fly amongst the tall grey buildings had been slain by Draco´s great-grandfather, her namesake, in his days of youth.

"That´s what the Headmaster said" Sev told his father grimly ", but I am running out of options. I found out dragons are one of the topics Lucius has been researching"

Draco´s eyes widened at the mention of her father. She had known that he was involved in the kidnappings. She had needed no proof, but if Sev was investigating him… then there was no doubting it. Her hands closed in tight fists and she felt her nails dig into her palms. That bastard…

"It´s starting to rain again" Lord Snape breathed out. He was right, of course, and soon the raindrops were falling heavily on the rooftop ". You know, when I first told your mother I was a wizard, she thought me insane. She threw a book at me and wouldn´t talk to me for months…" he trailed off in a chuckle.

"…I don´t see how this is a related topic" Sev chuckled as well.

"Wait it out" his father pleaded. Severus dutifully remained silent ". I dropped by her father´s house every day with a different flower bouquet and everyday her mother sent me off with a different excuse and a smile"

It was a story Draco had never heard before. If there was one thing Lord Snape liked doing, it was telling people about his beloved wife, so it was strange, really strange, that he had neglected to tell her this story. She pressed herself harder against the wall.

"One day, at last, when I knocked at the door, and hopelessly waited for Mrs. Paisi to open up and send me away, I looked up to see Gertrude standing there, her frown pointed at me like the barrel of a gun. A beautiful gun. Before I could speak, she told me a story. When she was a child, before coming to London, she lived just outside a small village in Bulgaria. The fields were beautiful and the vineyards gave almost too much fruit to process and life was good. But one day, the blue sky became grey and it began to rain. And rain. And rain"

Thunder roared up in the sky and Somewhere´s whine reached Draco´s ears: he had always been afraid of thunder. The air had become cold and she could see her breath swirl before her face. She was shivering in spite of her heavy sweater… Potter was having a nightmare. Draco pressed the back of her head against the wall, eyes closed, and used all of her strength to pull the dream towards her and away from the boy without losing track of what was being said outside.

"A week into the storm, the crops began to fall" Lord Snape continued ". Two weeks into the storm, people began to disappear. They left their houses and never came back. Three weeks into the storm, the sky turned black, and it became impossible to see the sun"

"A Long Night?" Sev asked, incredulous "The last one registered was during the Renaissance. Some priests summoned a demon"

"Yes, a night that lasted five years. It must be hard to keep track of them, don´t you think? Considering how many memory charms are flung back and forth amongst the Muggles"

"If nobody remembers it happened, then…"

"…there´s no need to write it down" Lord Snape finished ". Every lazy man´s motto. The thing is that the darkness went on for two months, until one day a large bird flew up to the clouds, a bird wrapped up in fire. Another bird, bathed in lightning, flew against it. They clashed for hours, until the lightning was won over by the fire… and the darkness was gone"

Potter´s nightmare finally subsided, but only after she pressed the entirety of her magic down on it. Luckily she hadn´t made any noise. Lord Snape was still speaking.

"Your mother asked me if that had been magic" he said, but his voice sounded far away ". I didn´t know what to answer"

"Perhaps it was a collective hallucination or something: Muggles are prone to things like that" Severus mused.

"Your mother might have been a Muggle, but she was wise to magic" Lord Snape countered ". Not our magic, but other, ancient and natural"

"The parallels are intriguing" Sev said ". We have the storm and the missing persons…"

"Hali…" the oldest Snape breathed out. Severus sighed. The rain fell.

"Yes" he said, and Draco could hear not dread, but resignation in his voice ". Hali"

"You already knew" Lord Snape stated.

"I wanted to check" Sev replied ". I had been hoping to be wrong" he sighed ". I need to leave, now. Make sure she…"

"…doesn´t do anything stupid, yes" his father sighed ". Take care, son"

Severus didn´t reply. He left, instead. As she heard him walk down the steps and further away, Draco imagined his black clad back disappearing in the darkness and the rain. Not making any noise, she got up and carefully maneuvered herself back upstairs, her mind heavy with thoughts and her heart heavy with sorrow. He hadn´t even come to say good bye…

She paused midway down the hallway, and opened the door to Potter´s room.

As usual, Potter had neglected to light the fire, choosing instead to bury himself under a pile of blankets and coats. And his feet were uncovered. And it was freaking freezing.

The owl hooted in greeting from her perch on the window, which was open, when Draco walked in, and she almost yelped in surprise. And maybe a little fright, but no one needed to know that. She had made her peace with Hedwig, in a way. The bird wasn´t so bad.

Draco shivered and closed the window, scratching Hedwig´s feathers before moving away and lighting the fire with a few matches. The owl seemed relieved by that, and she smiled when the bird flew over to perch on the back of a chair closer to the flames. There were a few clean blankets on the chair, so Draco picked one up and stretched it over Potter´s bare feet. Considering the room sufficiently inhabitable, Draco headed back to the hallway, but not before sparing one last glance at Potter.

The first few nights he had spent at the Cottage, the boy hadn´t managed to sleep the whole night through because of the nightmares. It was no wonder he was trying to win back lost hours now that he had her to clear his head, especially considering how… animated the next two days were going to be.

"Maybe you should sleep too" Lord Snape said, sneaking his head into the room. He smiled at Draco´s little jump on the spot.

"I´ll go in a minute" she whispered.

The old man regarded her with his wise black eyes, and he knew "Be careful"

Draco smiled "Aren´t I always?"

With a nod of farewell, Lord Snape left her alone. Draco stood there in the middle of the room for a few more minutes before going back out to the hallway. Somewhere, who´d been waiting for her to get out to lick her fingers goodnight, strutted into the room and laid down in front of the fireplace, ignoring Hedwig´s undignified hoot.

Shaking her head, Draco turned back around and went down the stairs again.

"_Now´s not time for sleep"_ she though as the library door creaked open.

Mickey, the Missioner toucan, snapped his beak at her from where he was perched on a chair just inside the library, just as he always did when someone came. Draco pressed her fingers to his head in greeting and snatched them away at once, just as the bird snapped his grey beak at them. Mickey might have been an old and rather decrepit bird, but Draco harbored no hope for them if his beak closed over her digits. It didn´t matter that he had lived there, perched on the chair, for as long as she could remember: wild things would always be wild. Draco often wondered how Mickey had gotten there. She also wondered if he missed flying.

Wild Creatures… Winged Creatures…

Foul weather. Missing people. Hali. Bulgaria.

It wasn´t much, but it would have to do. If Lord Snape knew anything about it, then the book where he had read it was somewhere in this library, and she knew exactly where to look.

The Snape Family Library was large and well kept: the fairies took care of it. It was warm and comfortable, and warm sunlight shone perpetually through it´s circular windows. It was an easy charm, similar to the one used on the ceiling of Hogwarts´ Great Hall. Looking at the bright room, taking in the high walls, staked with old books up to the ceiling, she could almost imagine Lady Snape sitting there, listening to Tchaikovsky records on the old phonograph that she had so lovingly kept clean and working: the last gift her mother had given to her, which she had cherished until the very last of her days.

"Truly there would be reasons to go mad were it not for music…" Lady Gertrude would say, eyes closed as she listened. It was her favorite quote. But then she would notice five year old Draco looking at her from the door, and her old hazel eyes would glitter with love.

"Come, come, snowdrop" she would say ". Today we will learn a new piece of the Seasons. Ela s men, ela s men!"

Lady Gertrude Snape, née Paisi, daughter of an English woman from an accommodated family and a Bulgarian country Lord. She had lived in her father´s lands up until the day the crops no longer grew. Lord Paisi sold his properties and his estate, and the family moved to London when the girl turned sixteen.

"The place was smaller, but it was dobre. Very pretty" the old woman would recall with a smile, and Draco would wonder if she meant that her own memories were pretty, or that the little girl´s beginners play was starting to take shape ". There was an old piano next to the window, and a sheet of music… Rachmaninoff´s Second. That one will be the next one I´ll teach you"

Draco smiled at the memory. That had been a good year.

"Hali…or ale. Plural for Ala" she recited words bound to her memory, running her fingers over the worn out leather spines of the oldest books kept inside an ancient red oak locker. She pulled out the largest one, a green leather tome that held itself together by charms and spells only, and laid it on the desk next to the window". From the Turkish word "ala", which means "snake". Probably finds root in the Proto-Slavic root "xal"

When she opened it, sunlight shone on the yellowed pages and made them shine, the hand-written words seemingly coming to life, along with the very detailed drawing of giant snake with a woman´s face. She was perched on grey clouds, her hands grasping the sun and slowly bringing it towards her mouth. Human skulls bound by a string hung from her neck, and lightning flashed around her.

"Proto-Slavic root "xal"…" Draco whispered thoughtfully. A shiver ran up her spine when thunder roared in the distance. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of a particular phrase, written in ancient Torlak dialect.

_The fury of the elements..._

Draco repeated the line four times out loud, a habit she had picked up from Cedric, and ardently wished for him to be there with her, in this lonely and scary night.

_Useless._

She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and continued reading.

* * *

The long lines curved and wrapped around each other like vines, some thicker than others, swirling together in intricate patterns, dotted with four tipped stars and flowers in some places. Even though he had decided long ago that the meaning and origins of ancient runes weren´t of his interest, Harry had to admit some of the elegant symbols carved on the wooden walls of the small, cave-like store were intriguing.

While Malfoy chatted amiably with the shopkeeper, who was almost as ancient as the runes he seemed to like so much, Harry walked around the store and examined the curious objects kept there. The walls were all covered in runes and drawings that might have been runes, but he wasn´t sure. He would have asked Malfoy through the bond, but she was so caught up in her conversation that she had shut out everything else. He looked over at her and saw her gesticulate wildly as a thousand words left her mouth in a practiced string of thoughts that were knitted together solidly by Draconian logic. Or at least that was what he thought; after all, they were speaking in Bulgarian.

Harry stretched his arms over his head, not even bothering to suppress a yawn. She had woken him up at five in the morning with a seemingly incomprehensible talk about demons and someone eating the sun. Clearly something had upset her.

"_Malfoy"_ Harry had said in his best commanding voice, grabbing her by the shoulders and trying really hard to see her face and not a blur. Malfoy seemed to notice his predicament, for she quieted and reached for his glasses, giving them to him wordlessly. She pulled away and sat on the edge of the bed, and Harry blushed, because he hadn´t noticed just how close they´d been.

"I think an ala is stealing people" Malfoy had said, looking at the floor with a vacant expression.

"Ala?" Harry frowned, putting on his glasses. The word meant nothing to him, until he remembered an interesting paragraph from one of the books he and Hermione had studied in second year when trying to find out what the monster of the Chamber of Secrets was "The demon? I thought there weren´t any of those anymore"

"I thought so too. Everyone thinks so" she bit her lip ". I guess we were wrong"

He hadn´t noticed at first, but the silver haired girl´s distress was a constant buzz at the back of his head, there were their bond was most powerful. It was usually hard for him to sense something, if anything, of what Malfoy felt; she was very private, and a master at hiding herself, but now…

Malfoy looked shaken up. She was twisting the hem of her skirt and her silver hair, which has usually the picture of perfect, was in complete disarray. Somewhere was sitting on the floor in front of her, looking at them both with a solemn expression, like he knew something important was going on. Perched on the back of a chair, Hedwig seemed to feel the same way.

"Tell me"

Malfoy looked over at him. Her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep; her lip was raw there where she had bitten too hard. She stood up in a fluid motion, never looking away from his eyes.

"I´ll tell you on the way"

Harry had nodded, and gotten up.

They had already decided the general lines of their plan, so leaving the Cottage was a silent, quick affair. Since magic inside the house was banned, Malfoy had instructed him to take his trunk outside the limits and reduce it to the size of a carry-on case the day before, so after he changed clothes the only things Harry had on his hands were Hedwig´s cage and a very small luggage.

He found Malfoy downstairs, saying goodbye to Somewhere. For once, the hellhound´s tail had stilled it´s movement, and his ears were drawn back in sadness. The girl was kneeling on the floor next to him, her face buried in the huge dog´s hair and her arms halfway around his body.

"Err… Malfoy?" Harry had the feeling he was interrupting something. The girl kissed Somewhere´s nose once and, with a sigh, she rose to her feet. She had brushed her hair, which was shiny and straight, and her Muggle clothes were ironed and perfectly fitted. The buzz at the back of Harry´s head was gone.

"Let´s go"

Once they were halfway to the Portkey, Somewhere barked at them in farewell or protest from the door, and Harry felt a tug at the bond, a sizzle of hurt that was totally Malfoy´s. He recognized the feeling, however: it was the feeling he always got when he sat on the train back to London, watching the eternal towers of Hogwarts become smaller and smaller in the distance.

Even though his stay at the Cottage had had it´s ups and downs, Harry had found himself reluctant to leave, in a way that he had never felt about his Uncle´s house. He wished he could say goodbye to Lord Snape, and thank him for everything.

"You can write him from Hogwarts" Malfoy had said, and that was that.

Even though he closed his eyes, Harry could feel the unpleasant pull on his navel when the Portkey was activated. Almost without thinking about it, he grabbed her hand. A soothing wave of warmth came from Malfoy´s side of the bond, but it was not enough. Fear ran cold through his veins as the world around them disappeared and they rematerialized in the dark London alley, and it took Harry a moment make his breath return to it´s normal speed. Malfoy stood there, looking at him strangely, her presence a constant reminder that he wasn´t alone in a cupboard, and the walls weren´t closing on him.

"You and I need to have a chat about cupboards someday" she said slowly. Then she sighed ". I´d forgotten you got panicky over this sort of thing. Hold tight"

Without another warning, Malfoy grabbed his arm with both hands and it was happening again.

When Harry finally got over the feeling of getting pulled through a rubber tube, they were both standing in a spacious, warm and richly furnished room with two beds, which he remembered as the one he and Sirius had stayed at when he had picked him up from the Dursley´s.

Malfoy had squeezed his hand in apology before letting go.

"You could have warned me!" Harry had whispered fiercely.

Malfoy had shrugged "It would have been worse. You should be proud of yourself. You faced three of your fears tonight: teleportation, small spaces and the dark. I can still dunk you into the bathtub, that way we´ll make it four"

"I´m not afraid of water" Harry had pouted. Malfoy raised an eyebrow ". At least I´m not afraid of owls!" he snapped.

"I am not afraid of owls!" the silver haired girl bristled indignantly "I just don´t like them, is all"

Harry lifted Hedwig´s cage and took a step closer to Malfoy, who jumped back immediately. He smirked "Yeah, right"

"Do you want me to tell you what I know or not?" she snapped, still glaring at him.

"Yes" Harry said, forgetting all humor at once. He walked to one of the beds and let all his things next to it, then sat down. Malfoy had sat on the bed across from him, and talked.

And talked. And talked. And talked.

She told him everything; from what she had heard Snape say (_professor Snape, Potter!), to _what she had investigated, to her own conclusions, to the points she had connected…everything. Even though he was reluctant to believe it, Harry had to admit her theory was very convincing. It would explain everything, including the foul weather and the disappearances, but still…

"But where is it?" Harry had said when Malfoy had finished her rant "There are no sacred trees or enchanted wells anywhere near London, they were all removed at the beginning of the century. Where would Voldemort keep an ala in the middle of the city?"

"I don´t know" Malfoy had admitted ". Maybe I´m wrong, but I… I don´t think I´m wrong, Potter. This is all making too much sense for me, especially since it is Voldemort we are talking about: that man is capable of anything. If he wants a safe place to keep a millenary demon here in the city, he will have it. And my father will do the impossible to get it for him"

"_How do you know?"_ Harry had felt tempted to ask, just like he had many times before. Malfoy´s conviction of her father´s… shady morality, her certainty that he really was that bad, had surfaced many times before, and Harry was baffled, because there was no pain in her voice, no shame or fear: only hatred.

"We need to make sure" Harry said, suddenly needing to _have a plan _". We came to the city to find out what is happening, so we will" he paused, feeling rather stupid ". Hum… How will we do that?"

For the first time the day before, since they had read Hermione´s letter, Malfoy had laughed.

It was raining when they left the Leaky Cauldron, and London streets were empty, though Harry had to wonder if that was because it was raining, because it was too early, or because of the ominous fog that crawled out of every crack in the stones and bricks. Malfoy had told him that the only place she knew would hold answers for them was a small bookstore at the other side of the city, in Muggle London, where a Bulgarian called Yan, a friend of Lord Snape, lived and worked.

"He and Lady Gertrude crossed the English Channel on the same boat" Malfoy explained as they walked down the sidewalk, hands deep inside the pockets of her fashionable green hoodie. She could not stand silence, Harry had noticed, so she preferred talking out loud to communicating through the bond ". They were friends since then, though he only told her he was a wizard after she married Lord Snape"

"Is that usual?" Harry had asked, because he´d always wanted to ask that question, but he had never found the right moment, or the right person, to ask it to.

"What?"

"That. For witches and wizards, I mean. Is it usual for them to marry Muggles?" other than Seamus´ parents, and Lord Snape and his wife, Harry had never known of any wizards who married Muggles.

Malfoy had seemed to mull it over.

"Well, it isn´t usual, per se" she said after a while ", but it isn´t as rare as it used to be. People don´t care about differences so much anymore. The whole concept of pureblood is only valued by some, not by all"

And there laid the million dollar question "But why? I mean, why does blood have so much meaning for some… people?" _and for you?_

The girl had glanced over at him, then shrugged "Fifty years ago, a white girl wouldn´t have dreamt of marrying a black boy, or even being friends with him. A hundred years ago, and until this very day, a highborn Lord wouldn´t dream of marrying a common girl. It´s society thing: stripes to stripes, circles to circles, squares to squares. And the same thing happens with the wizarding world"

For some reason, Harry ´d felt disappointed "So you think it´s alright, for some people to think they are better than others"

Malfoy had shrugged again "Not better, just different" she said, taking a hand out of her pocket to put a stray strand of hair behind her ear ". In a perfect world, a person´s blood would be as important as their eye-color"

Harry now felt confused "You are saying you don´t believe in all of that pureblood supremacy bullshit"

"Yes"

Harry had stared, incredulous.

"What about everything you say at school? Is that an act or something? Or do you just do it to look cool?"

And Malfoy had smiled sadly.

"Self-preservation" she said, and added nothing else.

And so here he was, walking around a store, not really knowing what was on sale or what was being said by the other two people there. They could have been insulting each other, for all he knew, but they both seemed so animated discussing their subject of investigation that it was unlikely. It was weird, really, and awkward: like being trapped in a Bulgarian elevator with twin Hermiones.

The object that caught his attention the most was a stone kept in a corner. It was about four meters tall, and it was covered in runes. They weren´t, however, the runes Harry was accustomed to seeing: the ones that looked like a child´s doodles and plagued Hermione´s notebooks. These ones were different, though he would have not been able to tell why. The difference was there, in the way the stone seemed to tower ominously over whomever was watching, and the symbols seemed to beckon you closer, to make you eager to know what they meant to say.

"_I foresee perdition" _

Harry startled. He hadn´t even heard Malfoy walk over "What?"

She gestured at the stone "That´s what it means. _I, master of the runes, conceal here runes of power. Plagued by maleficence. Doomed to insidious death is he who breaks this monument"_

"That´s why I don´t like runes" Harry said, a little disturbed by the words ". They always mean terrible things"

"Well, not all of them" Malfoy argued ". Most of them, yes, but not all of them"

"Did he tell you anything new?" he asked her after moment.

Malfoy sighed "Not really. He just told me that it would not be the first time hali are found in London"

"So, theoretically, an ala could actually live here in this city" Malfoy nodded ". How the hell did they find one? They are supposed to be extinct"

"I don´t know" the girl bit her lip, which was already starting to bruise ". Mr. Yan has gone to his basement; he says he has some books there" there was a pause, then

"Did you tell him about our suspicion?"

Malfoy shook her head "He thinks we are just a pair of geeks with thirst for knowledge… I still think we might be wrong"

Harry sighed "We should assume the worst, anyway"

"You always assume the worst" Malfoy snorted ". You are the most pessimistic person I know. And I know pessimistic people"

"You are the one who says a millenary demon that can actually control the weather is looming around in dark alleyways, dining on people"

"And possessing them" said a deep and very accented voice ". Don´t forget about the possession. I found these, Draco, they might be useful"

Mr. Yan was a petite man. Harry was rather short for his age, but he´d grown a lot during the summer, and he was taller than Malfoy by an inch or two. Mr. Yan, however, made them both look like giants, and he emerged from his basement carrying a pile of books that was twice his stature.

"Let me take that, sir" Harry made to grab some of the books, but the little old man waved him off.

"Nonsense" the man boomed cheerfully. Maybe all intellectuals had some traits in common: doing research always cheered Hermione up too. Mr. Yan breathed out a spell and a table surged up from the floor, tall enough that the only thing he had to do was drop the books there. Malfoy picked up the one that had cascaded closer to her and opened it.

"_The Truth Behind the Stories: Serbian Folktales" _she read out loud.

"Most of them are about sightings of xali through the years" said Mr. Yan, rummaging through the various tomes until he found the smallest one ". This one is about a hala´s behavior when residing inside a human woman´s dead body"

Malfoy stared at him "Ew"

"Yes, that would be the word"

"We would like to know how someone could find an ala…" Harry began.

"_Hala" _the old man corrected ". If there actually were any of these demons here in England, then the most probable is that we are talking about a specimen of the Bulgarian xali. They are larger than their Macedonian and Serbian cousins and would be the only ones capable of expanding their territory this far away from their homeland"

Harry swallowed "How…large… are these things?"

"The smallest one ever encountered was as large as a giant squid"

"Great" Malfoy snorted, closing the book ". The only thing capable of defeating hali is a dragon, right?"

"Or a particularly large hippogriff, but hear this" Mr. Yan pointed at the drawing of a particularly monstrous hala on the yellowed page of a particularly big book ": the dragon or hippogriff is just a distraction. What really seals the hala is a spell, so sacred and powerful that the wizard who created it coded it and hid it after using it on the hala that tried to eat the sun and provoked the Dark Ages. One word of the spell uttered wrongly, one step performed poorly…" he snapped his fingers "the results would be catastrophic"

_Catastrophic… _Asking him if he had any idea where the spell was would bring up suspicion, and Harry didn´t know where this man´s loyalties where.

"So…" Malfoy traced the spine of the book she was holding "Any idea where that spell is hidden?"

"Well, let me think…" Mr. Yan said as Harry spluttered incredulously. Malfoy shrugged ". I think that if the codex actually exists, then a copy might be found at the Ministry or, maybe, at Hogwarts"

"Are hali like regular demons? Can they be summoned?"

"Yes. The process, however, is long and complicated"

"Right" Malfoy breathed out. She was tense, and jumpy, like anything might make her snap. That was no good. Mr. Yan might notice.

"Thank you so much for your help, sir" Harry was surprised to find he actually meant that ". Isn´t there anything you have here that might tell us a bit more about the summoning process? Anything?"

Mr. Yan nodded "These are the books I managed to find that are in English. They are rather trivial. I believe there are more in the deposit, but…" he trailed off.

"But what?" Harry asked patiently when the man did not elaborate.

Mr. Yan sighed, suddenly looking very old, like all the weight of the world had settled upon his shoulders.

"It´s a mess"

Dumbfounded silence followed that statement. Malfoy, of course, was the one to break it.

"What the f-mphf!"

Luckily, Harry had seen it coming, so he lunged at her and covered her mouth with his hand before the worst could come out.

"What she means is that" Harry began, still holding Malfoy´s mouth shut as she squirmed. For some reason, Mr. Yan didn´t seem to find the whole thing strange in the least "we really don´t mind if the place is a mess. We are really… curious. Could you please just let us take a look?"

"Of course! Let me just find the key…" still smiling, Mr. Yan walked off. Harry was beginning to think the man had smoked a joint or two before opening up that morning. When he was sufficiently far off, he let Malfoy go.

The girl glared a thousand daggers at him, but Harry was beginning to think of himself as immune.

"One of these days, Potter" she spitted out the name like an insult ", I´m going to kill you"

Harry smirked "I´d like to see you try"

"Here it is!" Mr. Yan shouted from the other end of the store, halting the girl´s comeback.

Malfoy was still glaring at him after they had followed the old man down a flight of stairs and found themselves standing before a rather impressive iron door. Mr. Yan placed the key on the lock and turned it twice to the left, three to the right, and the heavy gate was open.

"Here you are" Mr. Yan proclaimed, his accent becoming thicker by the word ". Make yourselves at home! I´ll be upstairs if you need me"

Harry looked at Malfoy, then they both lunged at the door and pushed it open with all of their strength.

It was a very big deposit, big enough to fit all four of the tables at the Great Hall; the walls were tall enough to practice sport climbing on them; and the ceiling was high up enough for the skeleton of a huge dragon to be standing tall in the middle. Which it was.

It was really huge, but they could not walk three feet inside because the place was staked from floor to ceiling with boxes, boxes, boxes everywhere. Except for where the dragon skeleton was.

When he gazed upon rows and rows of unmarked boxes, Harry´s heart did a little roll and fell all the way down to his stomach.

"Somebody out there hates me" Malfoy said, looking at the endless disaster in resignation ". It´s either that or this is some kind of bad karma. I must have been some sort of genocidal dictator in my other life" With a sigh, she went over to rummage through the closest box ". Or maybe a lawyer. Yeah, that´s probably it. If you think about it…"

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

He wasn´t really surprised when he walked into her room and found her gone. The owl wasn´t hooting on the low branches of the sugared cherry tree and Somewhere had been lying on the porch all morning, black eyes staring out into the distance. Lord Tacitus Snape, first of his name, gazed upon the horizon as well and sighed.

He´d known they would not stay forever, but the prospect of spending weeks, months, or even the night alone in that old house full of ghosts seemed grayer than the sky up above.

"Come, come, Somewhere" Lord Snape called, the old book about folktales he´d found in Draco´s room craddled under his arm. The hellhound rose to his paws, solemn ". It´s been a long time since we last travelled"

* * *

"Well, I found a cookbook" Harry said ". Where should it go?"

"On that pile over there" Malfoy instructed, eyes not straying from the big manuscript he was inspecting.

"Which pile? There are like a dozen" the boy sighed.

"Well, you have a neat variety" she told him " you have the pile of outright junk and not so outright junk, the pile of what the fuck is this, the cool stuff pile…"

Aand yet there is no…" Harry interrupted "useful stuff pile. I´m beginning to think we won´t find anything here"

They opened and rummaged and pushed and shoved. Boxes fell and were picked up, things broke and were fixed (or hidden), and the room was half sorted out by six in the afternoon. At about the same time, and after a turf war that had lasted for about two hours, Harry´s arms and back finally left out their differences, teamed up and committed mutiny.

"Potter" Malfoy said when she came from her side of the boxes and found him lying on his back on the tiled floor, but her reproach lost all credibility when she dumped the books she was holding and rested her back on the floor as well.

"We won´t find anything here" Harry threw an arm over his eyes ". Yan probably just needed someone to clean his deposit"

"_Mr. Yan_ is the only man in this city whose specialty is spirits and demons" Malfoy told him for what was possibly the twentieth time ". If we are going to find out anything about hali or ale or whatever the fuck they´re called, it will be here"

"We are wasting time" Harry said.

"What would you have us do, Potter? This is the only lead we have, and I´m not even sure if it´s correct or…"

"It is"

Even though he couldn´t see her, Harry could feel Malfoy´s eyes on him, so he knew she had sat up just to stare "How do you know?"

"…I just know"

The girl snorted "You just know. That´s great, Potter"

"Seriously, Malfoy!" Harry sat up as well "I don´t know how, but I know this… this thing is what is taking people away. Instead of trying to find out how it got here, we should be out there looking for the place where it´s taking them!"

The girl rolled her eyes "Potter…"

"I´m not exaggerating! I might be a pessimist, Malfoy, but at least I don´t pretend the things I fear don´t exist!"

Malfoy stared at him blankly. The bond was silent and tranquil, like the second before the storm. Harry knew it had probably been a terrible thing to say, but he had a feeling that, here, they weren´t doing anyone any good. They needed to find the people who had disappeared and save them, this time. He had to save them.

Without taking her eyes away from him, the silver haired girl rose to her feet. She dusted off her clothes with both hands and walked to the door, throwing it open with a bit more force than necessary. Icy silver eyes turned to him and stabbed him like daggers.

"Let´s go, then"

* * *

It wasn´t that she hadn´t been expecting it. It wasn´t that she hadn´t known it was coming. It was simply that she had been using all of her strength to pretend this wasn´t happening, even though it was, actually, happening.

It was happening right now.

"…your father and I have been thinking about it a lot, Pansy dear" her mother was saying, but she wasn´t listening, because this wasn´t happening. Not yet ", and we think it might be best if you don´t return to Hogwarts this year. After all, that mad headmaster is not a good…"

Shit. Fuck. Merlin´s beard!

Why hadn´t they had this conversation earlier? She would have been able to make a plan! Hogwarts Express was leaving in the morning, she had to be there by eleven, no matter what!

No way, no way, no way! This wasn´t happening!

"…and you know how people get when they think their life is in danger, they get all fuzzed up and hot-headed and they don´t think. London must be a mess right now…"

Draco had told Pansy something like this might happen. That was why they had made up the plan.

_Yes, that´s right, no need to get flustered, you do have a plan! _She thought to herself, but her hands were shaking with the thought of the blood magic wards closing around Parkinson Manor, covering every entrance, door and crack so that no one would be able to come in or, more worryingly, get out.

She´d have to act quickly.

"…I would not be able to help you! Oh, I would be so worried for you, Pansy, if you were out there, out of my sight…"

_Out of your grasp, you mean, _she wanted to say, but it would not be useful to fight. Vince and Greg had their fists, and Draco had that dangerous mind of hers that could turn a man into a vegetable with one thought, but Pansy… there wasn´t much she could do in her own defense if the need arose, she wasn´t a fighter, and she would not pretend to be one now.

She had been brought up to be a society lady, after all, and manipulation was her most treasured and honed skill. She smiled and nodded, hum-ing and ahh-ing in all the right places, and her mother smiled at her with disgusting pride in her vacuum, stupid eyes.

"I knew you would understand!" Lady Parkinson proclaimed, kissing her forehead. Pansy endured, because she knew she had won "You can still write to your friends and see them on holidays… Oh, my dear child, it will be wonderful to have you here with me all year! Would you like us to have a tea party next Saturday?"

That was her queue.

"Of course, mama"

Lady Parkinson clapped her hands in mindless glee and left her daughter´s chambers in a hurry, doubtlessly to begin her plans for a themed tea party. Pansy cringed at the memory of her brother´s bloodied robes...

Pansy sometimes wondered how her mother could not see what happened around her, how she could be so air-headed, and she wondered if that was better… if it was better not to know that the world was changing around you, not to see how things progressed. Her mother was like a frog inside a cauldron full of water placed on the fire: she would not be able to feel the water around her heating up until she found herself boiled alive.

_No time. They are going to close up the wards… move!_

Right. Time was running out.

Pansy closed the large door and locked it before running to her closet. She pulled out a heavy impermeable grey cloak, a birthday present from Vince, and a broom she had stolen from her father´s collection at Draco´s suggestion.

"_If they want to make you stay, take the broom and fly off" _Draco had said the last time they had spoken through the fireplace ". _I´ll be here at the Cottage for the rest of the summer, but I´ll be in London the days before the Hogwarts Express takes off. You´ll have to be quick, and brave: if you don´t leave at once, you´ll have to stay"_

Take the broom and fly off… easier said than done. Pansy pulled her trunk out from under the bed and looked down at it, sighing and kicking it back under the bed when she realized that there would no way for her to fly all the way London carrying it on a night like this. She could have reduced it with magic, but her father´s detectors would tell her off at once.

A whistle went off in the distance: a signal that curfew was near and the wards were about to come down. Three whistles and all would be over. Pansy pulled on her cloak and took some money out of a drawer, hastily putting it inside her pocket as she opened the window to the balcony with curse. By the time the second whistle went off, Pansy kicked the floor and she was flying away.

Parkinson Manor was beautiful in a way that the homes of other Great Houses weren´t. Her family had gained power and name during the late baroque ages, when flowery sculptures and romantic designs of birds and clouds were the most accepted and respected fashion. It was large and colorful, with walls of black and white marble bricks, crawling with vines in bloom. It was surrounded by gardens and limited by a low, symbolic fence, which was were the magic of the wards resided: the first Lord and Lady Parkinson had set the first stone, bathed with their love for one another and their need to protect their firstborn.

The love that had raised the mansion from the ground and up to the skies had been polluted by the generations that came afterwards, though; centuries and centuries of Lords and Ladies murdering their spouses, drowning their children, poisoning their servants… the Parkinson family had turned their back on the light as soon as they had been presented with the chance. Pansy often wondered if that was a family trade.

She gritted her teeth and speeded up, feeling the cold afternoon rain all around her cleans her spirit and give her strength to run away from all that.

By the time the third whistle went off, she was three miles away. By the time she was ten miles away, she realized she´d been crying all the while.

* * *

It had been raining all day, it seemed, and it hadn´t stopped when Harry and Malfoy left Yan´s shop, not before extracting a promise from the old man: he would look into hali and let them know what he found via owl, which was great, because Malfoy had developed a rash all over her left arm and Harry had been bitten by a spider.

"I found this, though" Malfoy said when she´d been finished complaining about the rash and they were halfway back to the Leaky Cauldron. She pulled a yellowed piece of paper from her pocket and gave it to him. It was a symbol: three pentacles inside a circle, surrounded by runes and other, smaller symbols ". It looks like a Devil´s Trap, but it´s not, so… I don´t know. I saw it in a lot of the books we read today"

"I saw it too" Harry said, giving the piece of paper back and burying his hands deep inside his pockets ". It´s in a few of the books you stole"

"Borrowed" she corrected ". I´m going to give them back" a pause ". Maybe"

"What now?" Harry asked after a few minutes.

Malfoy glanced at him "You said you wanted answers, right? We´ll go get them. I have to do something first"

By the time they entered the dry warmth of the Leaky Cauldron, Harry was soaked to the bones and could not see much through the wet lenses of his glasses, so he took them off to dry them with his sleeve, which turned out to be useless, since his sleeve was wet too.

"Harry!"

He looked up at the voice. A pale blur came over to him, a pale, smiling blond blur that was wearing… an apron.

"Rebecca" Harry said, though it was mostly a guess. When nobody corrected him, he assumed he got it right. He really couldn´t see shit without his glasses… A wave of curiosity came through the bond.

"_A friend of yours?" _the eyebrows wagging in mocked suggestion could be pictured just fine after all the time he had spent with the silvery devil.

"Let me get that for you" the young waitress said, taking his glasses and drying them herself before giving them back. When the world came back to focus, Harry took in her blond hair and her slightly strained smile, and yeah, it was Rebecca ". How is Mr. Remus? We haven´t seen him either"

"He´s doing great. He´s… hum…travelling" Harry lied, smiling himself. Malfoy coughed ". Oh yeah, this is my… cousin. Hala"

That was stupid. Why did he lie? What if Rebecca had seen Malfoy before? They were screwed! She was going to be recognized! Things had been going so well… it was impossible for someone who had seen or had had a Malfoy described to them not to recognize the silver hair and grey eyes. What would Rebecca think? What if somebody else found out the two of them had been out in London investigating…

"Hello!" a complete stranger said cheerfully "It´s always great to meet Harry´s friends!"

Harry seriously needed to know how the hell she could pull stuff like this. Malfoy´s hair had somehow, in the last ten seconds, become curly and black, much like his own; her eyes were sharp green and her face was crossed with freckles. Her face had a different shape, even her nose was different, and her skin was tanned instead of silky white. They looked genuinely related.

Her voice, though, didn´t change, but it was heavily colored with Yan´s accent, and amusement was pouring out of her in waves.

"I´m Rebecca" the blond girl said, shaking hands with… Hala. Her smile had changed; it was brighter now. Harry wondered why, and a sharp stab of _by all Gods, Potter, you are so dense!_ came to him through the bond ". Nice to meet you. Your accent is quite strange, where is it from?"

"Well, I am Bulgarian" Malfoy lied with the ease of someone who did it much more often than Harry had ever suspected while she squeezed his arm with fake affection ". I am here only to see my dear cousin"

"That explains your name" Rebecca reasoned. She sent a bright smile Harry´s way ". How long are you staying?"

"Hm… not long. Just tonight" he said. Lying was really not his thing.

"Oh! Well, then, it was great seeing you, even if it was just for a while" she smiled sweetly again and excused herself ". I have tables to tend to, so… see you. Look for me next time you…"

Harry nodded "Yeah, I´ll look. For you, I mean"

Rebecca smiled yet again "Bye, Harry. Hala"

"Goodbye" Malfoy waved cheerfully.

"Bye" Harry followed her with his eyes until she reached the other side of the room before heading back to the stairs.

"You like her" Malfoy said as they walked up the stairs, still wearing her new and amazingly disturbing appearance "She likes you."

Harry blushed "Shut up"

"Although it certainly isn´t for your conversational skills" she chuckled ". _I´ll look. For you, I mean" _she repeated in a grave voice and laughed "_. _What the hell does that mean? What else would you look for? My god, that rubbish did not come out of your mouth…"

"If you don´t mind, I would like to move on, now. Thank you" Harry said, still blushing, as they entered their room. Hedwig hooted in greeting from her perch on the window ". How the hell did you change your looks so fast?"

"It´s a trick I learnt from a friend. I was going to do it later, but your little lie changed the plans" Malfoy explained, an amused smile stretched wide on her lips, as she walked to the center of the room and stood with her hands on her hips ". Here we are. Wobbly!"

There was silence, and a pop, and then there was a bundle of hats and gloves and knitted things jumping up to Malfoy´s arms with a squeak of joy.

"Little Lady!" tearfully exclaimed the oldest house elf Harry had seen in his whole life as she pressed her face to Malfoy´s neck. The girl, strangely, did not protest, and hugged the small creature back "Wobbly had thought you forgot her!"

"You know I wouldn´t do that" Malfoy said, caressing the creature´s ear soothingly ". How did you know it was me?"

The small elf let go and jumped gracefully to the floor, where she did a profound reverence. Or as profound a reverence she could do with all the clothes she had on.

"I would recognize my Little Lady anywhere" Wobbly stated confidently in a high voice before turning to set her huge eyes on Harry. She squeaked and pointed a bony finger at him ". Harry Potter!"

"Hello" Harry waved awkwardly, slightly confused but going with the flow.

"Yes, Wobbly, that would be him" Malfoy said, kneeling next to her on the carpeted floor ". Thanks for coming so fast. We need your help"

Wobbly lightened up in an instant. She stood up straighter and looked at Malfoy earnestly.

"Anything"

Malfoy smiled "Great. The Hogwarts Express leaves tomorrow at eleven. I need you to get that trunk over there" she pointed at Harry´s open trunk "and my trunk, which is at the Manor, but looks a lot like that one, into the train. Can you do that?"

"Of course!"

With another profound reverence and pop, she was gone, and so was Harry´s trunk.

"My clothes were in there" he pointed out without much expectation.

"But not your invisibility cloak" Malfoy said, drying her now black hair with a flick of her wand. It was not short of a miracle that she had never been caught using magic, considering how often she used it ". Because you always keep it in your pocket"

That said, she turned her wand on Harry, whose hand went straight for his own wand instinctively.

The silver haired girl rolled her eyes "If I´d wanted to turn you into a turnip, I would have probably already done it by now, Potter"

"Good point" Harry pocketed his wand and let his arms fall to his sides in surrender ". May I at least ask what you are going to do?"

And Malfoy smiled evilly.

"We can´t be seen walking around town together" she said ", but if I´m suddenly a female version of you, I don´t see why it can´t go both ways"

She cocked her head to the side, bit her lip in concentration and got to work.

* * *

Knockturn Alley was empty, save for the occasional black clad figure with pointy hat eying the items splayed on the shop windows, though the mist made them look like crows out for carrion. Rain was still pouring down hard, but at least the air was cold and not warm and heavy. After all the time he had spent down in the sewers, it was relieving to at last see the outside world, even if it was only for a short mission.

He pulled out another cigarette from his pocket, the last one in the package, and lit it with the butt of the one he was smoking before throwing the reduced cancer stick to the ground. He had been standing under the same bloody tree for the past five hours and there still was no goddamn sign of that sodding Malfoy brat.

The eyes Lord Malfoy had around the city had caught sight of her earlier that day, but her trail had been lost with the all the fuzz caused by the disappearance of the Parkinson girl. These pureblooded dicks should really learn how to keep better track of their offspring.

Parkinson wasn´t a problem, she was just a snotty little kid; Malfoy, however… that was a whole different matter. The girl knew too much, he could tell by the way the Dark Lord would put special attention on her whereabouts, and she was here in London, hiding somewhere, and not even the keen black eyes of the city could pinpoint exactly where.

"I know my daughter" Lord Malfoy had told him before sending him off on this pathetic excuse for a mission, his grey eyes dull with disinterest". She´ll want an answer, and if she wants an answer, she´ll have to cross Knockturn Alley"

"And what if she doesn´t?"

He shivered to remember the icy glare he´d been gifted with at that. Without waiting for a reply, he´d fled, and so here he was, waiting for a silver haired snob who wasn´t very sure would arrive. And he didn´t even know what he´d have to do after he found her! With a sigh, he made to pull out another cigarette, and found that the package was already empty.

"Fuck"

Thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, he leaned back against the tree, closing his eyes minutely and feeling like shit. The fucking rain was giving him a cold. When he opened his eyes, the world was a blur, and he blinked a few times to focus. And then he saw it. A glimpse of silver hair.

He almost snapped his neck in the haste to look at whom that hair belonged to, and he was sorely disappointed to see it belonged to a boy, fair skinned and tall, walking side by side with a petite black haired girl and not looking very happy to be where he was.

With yet another sigh, he laid his head against the tree trunk and closed his eyes, falling asleep to the lull of the city and not noticing the way the girl´s drawled out tones were dripping with a fake Bulgarian accent as she gesticulated wildly with both hands and rambled about nothing in particular.

* * *

**Hello!**

**First of all, I would like to apologize for the delay. These past two months have been terrible for me: my best friend, who I loved like a sister, passed on to better life after a long fight with a terrible illness, and it has been hard for me to recover. I know this is probably none of your business, but I feel that you guys should know my reasons. I will try to keep the updates more regular from now on.**

**As usual, thanks for giving my story some of your time.**

**XOXO FiLau**

**Querida Ama: ¡Mil disculpas por la demora! Recien hoy vi tu comentario y me dio pie para apurarme y terminar los ultimos detalles que me faltaban. Me alegro que el fic te esté gustando y espero sepas disculpar. Saludos. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Heyaaa! Remember that drug use that I said was going to happen? Or at least I think I said so… okay I´ll say it now! Well, it happens in this chapter. It´s mild (or at least for me it is), but it´s still there so you have been warned!**

* * *

"_Roses in a vase of white  
Bloodied by the thorns beside the leaves  
That fall because my hand is  
Pulling them hard as I can"_

"_Brother"_ by _Alice in Chains_

* * *

"Draco!" her sister cried out, her beautiful blue eyes filling with tears as her little fingers began slipping from the ledge.

"Give me your hand!" Draco said, reaching out as far as she could with one hand while holding the rope with the other. If she let go of the rope, it would be the end for the both of them.

"It won´t hold for much longer!" Vincent huffed from somewhere behind her, but she was not listening. She had to save her, she had to!

"Hurry!" Blaise shouted.

"The rope is breaking!" Pansy cried.

"Lyra..." she breathed out, feeling the strain on the arm holding the rope intensify when she reached further down "Take my hand..."

With a little whimper, Lyra reached up with her free hand one last time, and Draco reached down just in time to grasp it in a firm grip but, just when she began heaving Lyra up, Draco felt a sickening clang behind her and, as gravity began pulling her down, she cursed herself for trusting her life to the eldest rope she´d seen in her life. She slipped, and she and Lyra plummeted forward in slow motion with a shared screech of absolute terror, finding the simplest kind of comfort in knowing at least they were going together.

"_Aresto Momentum!" _

Draco opened her eyes, and found herself staring into Lyra´s blue ones, finding her own confusion reflected there as they fell, light as feathers, only to land in a heap on the fluffy grass under the apple tree.

"Looks like I got the double price" Lord Snape said with a smile on his saddened face, both hands on his hips as he walked closer with Etienne, Theo and Greg trailing behind him. The old man kneeled next to them and placed a hand on each of their heads to ruffle their hair ". Two for one"

Draco huffed "We had it under control"

"Not really, we almost died, thank you for saving us" Lyra recited easily, grinning up at a laughing Lord Snape.

"And what, pray tell, were you trying to do?" he asked everyone in general. Draco smiled, there was no way anyone was going to give up their magnificent plans even under...

"Well, we were just trying to get some apples to make..." Theo began happily, only to have both Greg and Etienne clamp their hands on his mouth.

Almost anyone, anyway.

"We are building a tree house!" Pansy lied smoothly, still sitting on the tree branch and holding the broken rope.

"With apples?"

Everybody looked at Pansy in desperation, but she did not disappoint "Of course not, silly! We were just... picking a few apples for Somewhere"

"Somewhere really likes apples," Draco assured "Right Lyra?"

"Right" Lyra repeated without a hitch ". He does"

Lord Snape raised an eyebrow "So you were building a tree house while picking apples for Somewhere" Everyone nodded. Lord Snape grinned "Isn´t the apple tree a bit too small for a tree house you can all fit in?"

Crap.

"You´re right!" Etienne piped up, smiling "We realized that a few minutes ago and we came down so we could look for another tree"

"But I tripped!" Lyra said over enthusiastically, blushing when all eyes turned to her, and she turned to her sister for reassurance. She was so not good under pressure.

"And I was trying to help her up" Draco explained calmly ", but the rope broke and we fell, so thank you for saving us"

"Father" Severus called, standing at the foot of the stairs that lead up to the front door, his impatience punctuated by Somewhere´s barking. Draco thanked all the gods there might be out there that he had not been there to presence their little scene a few minutes ago. A sideways glance at her sister told her she was not alone in the sentiment ". If you do not hurry we will be late"

"In a second, son" But Lord Snape didn´t seem very convinced "Hmmm" his black eyes locked with Draco´s for what felt like an eternity, but was only a few minutes of agonizing scrutiny. He must have been satisfied by what he saw in her silver eyes, because he smiled and turned to go ". We will go to the town to run a few errands, make sure not to fall from any trees until I come back, alright?"

"Yes!" they chorused cheerfully.

Before the man turned around, Severus raised his eyebrow at them. It was a mix between the I Know What You Are Doing But I Will Not Ask eyebrow and the Don´t Do Anything Stupid eyebrow. When his father turned around, he looked elsewhere, pretending to be engrossed in the cloud patterns that were currently dancing above them.

"Oh, Severus, have I ever told you what an impossibly impatient child you are?"

"Only a few thousand times"

"You remind me of your mother! You know, a year after we got married, she..."

When they were no longer able to hear two men´s voices, the children let out a collective sigh of relief, and promptly all eyes locked on little Theo, who tried, with admittedly no success, to merge with the ground underneath him.

"YOU!"

With a growl that hardly counted as proper for a little society lady, Draco seemed to fly towards him in a violent blur of green fabric and silver hair, tackling her prey to the ground and straddling him so he´d stay still. Her anger seemed to be so very much that she could not articulate real sentences, only broken phrases regarding apples, murders, disasters and traitors.

"AHHH, HELP ME!" Theo screeched to no avail. All his so called friends backed away and left him at the mercy of the terrible demon, not caring that his end was near. It was alright, he did not hold grudges. He had put their mission in peril, and so he had to be punished. His dear friends, he hoped they would forgive him for his indiscretion.

"Don´t kill him" the demon´s twin sing-songed.

"Can someone help me down?" Pansy asked, bored.

"Yeah, sure" Vince said gruffly, rushing over to the tree to help the girl down. None of them seemed to be concerned that Theo could hear his spine cracking.

"Alright, so we have the apples, what´s next?" Greg asked as he took the apple-filled bag from Blaise, who had been hiding it behind his back while he remained perched on the tree.

"We should get some peppermint from the garden" Etienne answered, eying their prize with a pleased smile "and vanilla from the orchidarium"

Theo was having tunnel vision now and he thought that his life had been all to brief. He hoped that his mother would not grieve him for too long and, even though they had forsaken him in the end, he wished his friends a long, happy life, full with adventures and puppies, or puppies and adventures or puppies with adventures or something regarding that but not necessarily in that order.

"I think he´s had enough, Draco, he´s turning blue" someone, some great person, who was dressed like Blaise but could not possibly be him was speaking somewhere very far away. Ah, his best friend was talking in his defence. It was too late now, but he still appreciated it, and he would carry that last line spoken in his defence with him to the next world.

Suddenly the demon detached herself from him, and he could breathe again. A hand helped him up and slapped his back, rattling his vertebrae like beads, the jovial pain reviving him a little. The demon stood next to it´s twin, arms crossed over her chest, not minding her muddy dress as she sulked, back on the leash.

Lyra elbowed her sister, pointedly nodding at Theo. Draco huffed, rolling her eyes "You are forgiven"

"So" Lyra said enthusiastically, knowing that was the most they would get from her moody sibling ". Let´s go get the last ingredients!"

Compared to picking the apples, finding the wild peppermint that grew next to the belladonna under the stone bench in the rose garden and fighting with the gnome in charge of watering the orchids for the right to pick a few vanilla flowers from the orchidarium was a piece of cake. The real problem presented itself to them once they gathered all of their prizes and settled them on the kitchen counter, and gathered all the utensils they would need for the hard task of baking an apple pie like the one Lady Snape used to make.

"Where the fuck is the recipe?!" Etienne growled with sentiment as he forcefully closed the locker he´d been inspecting.

Greg widened his eyes and pointed at him accusatorily "Etienne said fuck!"

"Now you said it too, genius" Blaise pointed out as Greg clamped both hands on his mouth.

"What did he say?" Lyra asked, walking into the kitchen, carrying a large pile of cook books, Vince and Pansy trailing behind her.

"Fuck" Blaise answered.

"You said fuck!" Vince accused.

"Oh, shut up" Draco snapped grumpily, raising from her crouch on the floor next to the bookshelf she´d been examining ". You are going in circles"

"And the search is not going much better" Lyra commented, flipping through the pages of a small cook book.

"Alright, fuck it!" Draco exclaimed, earning a few horror-stricken gasps from her friends and a long suffering sigh from her sister "If we cannot find the recipe, we will make it up!"

And so they made it up.

"Two cups of flour!"

"One cup of sugar!"

"Should we not use a bigger cup?"

"Like the one father uses to drink beer! There´s one upstairs"

"Five eggs!"

"I think you should crack them first..."

"Let´s make the dough in that bucket!"

"Should the apples be cooked, too?"

"NOBODY MOVE! I DROPPED THE SPOON INSIDE THE BUCKET!"

Vincent, Pansy, Blaise and Etienne mixed and stirred and blended and tasted, all under the direct supervision of Lyra, who was armed with a cook book named "Pastries and cakes: what you need to know". Theo, Greg and Draco rinsed and peeled and chopped and sliced, occasionally engaging in active apple wars that lasted for as long as Lyra was not looking at them.

In the end, their calculations had been only slightly erred, so instead of having apple filling for one pie, they had apple filling for three pies. They did not worry, though, for they had quite a lot of dough. Stretching the dough was a bit of a challenge, but there really was something to be said about Parkinson perseverance.

Finally, they fitted the dough in three pie moulds, placing the apple filling inside before putting the three almost-done pies inside the oven and setting it at the right temperature. They all smirked, feeling accomplished, but Vince frowned.

"But what do we do with all the dough we have left?"

Wise question.

Lyra hummed in thought "We could make cookies"

Etienne fished through all the cupboards, looking for chocolate chips while the others washed and buttered up a couple (_ten_) baking trays. When everything was ready, they settled into the quiet labour of making small dough balls, flattening them on the oven pans and then carefully placing five chocolate chips on every individual cookie before someone (none of them would ever remember who) realized that it would be much easier if they just mixed all the chips with the dough. Everything went much faster after that.

When the last tray was placed in the large oven and the last clean place left in the kitchen was marred with an egg somebody dropped, Somewhere´s bark was heard in the distance, signalling that the moment had come. Hurriedly, Draco opened the oven so that Pansy could pull out the pie closest to her, protecting her hands from the heat with a tablecloth. It looked alright.

"This place is a mess" Blaise pointed out, not really doing anything to remedy it.

"We´ll clean later" Etienne said, opening the door and urging them to come through. Within a few minutes, they were all standing before the front door in silence and absolute darkness, because in all of their plans they had not thought of turning on the lights. They heard two sets of footsteps coming up the steps, and Somewhere´s panting was also there, like he´d been running around while his two humans were being too slow for his taste. The door opened, and the children sucked in a long breath.

Lord Snape walked inside, side by side with Somewhere, blinking owlishly at them.

"Happy birthday!" they chorused happily, wide smiles stretching across their faces.

"We made apple pie, like the one Lady Snape used to make!" Greg chirped excitedly.

"That´s what we needed the apples for, they weren´t for Somewhere" Theo explained, patting the dog on it´s massive head ". You don´t even like apples, do you?"

"It´s a little burnt..." Lyra said.

"...and a bit deform..." Draco interrupted.

"...but I think it´s okay" Lyra finished, picking a little bit of blackened crust from the edge.

Speechless, Lord Snape turned around to look at his son, who shrugged and held up a plastic bag which Draco presumed held the ice cream she had requested. She grinned.

"Children..." the old man started, his black eyes bright with something Draco was finding quite hard to identify, but might have been...

"Alright, so, I´m burning my hands, so we are finishing this conversation in the dining room!" Pansy announced before breaking into a desperate run for some flat surface to place her burden.

"What is that smell?" Severus asked, a questioning eyebrow raised.

Draco and Lyra looked at each other before running off back to the kitchen where they would find a couple of worse for wear pies and ten batches of cookies out of which only three were edible.

It was a good night. The first one of Lord Snape´s birthdays without his wife was, as Draco called it in the private recesses of her mind, a success. They ate pie with ice cream and peppermint, listening to the Beatles while they sipped tea and listened to the old man´s stories. After the fifth cup of tea, the man seemed a lot more cheerful than he had been in the past few days and, with a smile and twinkling eyes, he raised his cup in their direction.

"Thank you, little ones" he said, not knowing that the next few words in his little speech would mark the foundations of something that would transcend time, life and death, and everything that came between ". You saved the day"

The first days of winter were the best days of the year for stargazing, Lady Snape used to say, and so, like every year, the children were given blankets and like a thousand cookies, and were sent off to the garden with a little alarm clock that would go off at three o´clock, the generally accepted curfew on nights like these.

"If we go out and save the day" Vince whispered softly after they had been lying in a circle and staring at the sky above them in silence for about half an hour", we should have a group name, like the Justice Lea-gue"

"Or the Brotherhood of Evil" Pansy whispered back.

"But we are not evil" Blaise pouted.

"Or particularly Just" Etienne added. He had always been fond of using long words they didn´t know just to confuse them, the bastard.

"Then something different" Theo had piped up, excited by the idea of belonging to a group, like a superhero ", like The X-Men or Doom Patrol"

"Doom Patrol all the way!" Vincent called.

"But those names are already taken" Lyra said, stifling a yawn ". It would be... hum... Something with a P... _Plague! Plaguerism_!"

"What is that?" Vincent asked.

"It´s when you take something someone else invented and say it´s yours" Etienne explained.

"You are right, we don´t want Superman coming for us because we _plagued _his team´s name" Blaise pointed out, and everyone nodded their approval.

"Let´s make our own name, then" Draco said, raising her hand up and pointing at the stars ". Like the Space Snakes or something like that"

"Space Snakes?" Lyra giggled.

Draco Elbowed her, blushing "Suggest something better, then"

Lyra hummed thoughtfully "How about...the Moon Walkers?"

Pansy snorted "There you are_ plaguing_ Michael Jackson. I say the Gecko Brotherhood"

"Geckoes?" Etienne asked.

"They are cute" Pansy countered. Nobody answered.

"How about the Space Patrol?" Theo changed the subject "Or the Space Men"

"Space Patrol sounds good" Vincent said.

"Mmm-hm" Blaise agreed.

"I don´t like it" Pansy pouted.

"We don´t have to choose it tonight" Etienne reasoned, yawning.

"You are right, we haven´t heard all the possibilities" Lyra agreed ", but we´ll probably forget tomorrow"

"Maybe we can mix the names we have" Pansy said ". Like the Moon Patrol or the Space Brotherhood"

"Or the Moon Brotherhood" Draco suggested, feeling her heavy lids begin to close ". We need another word. Hey, Greg, You haven´t said anything..."

"He´s asleep" Lyra said, smiling.

Draco elbowed him fiercely "Greg!"

"Muffin!" the boy shouted as he bolted upright.

The children laughed.

"What were you dreaming about?" Pansy laughed as Greg lied back down on the floor, confused but not enough to stay awake long enough ask.

"Muffin, huh?" Draco smiled, yawning "The Muffin Brotherhood it is, then"

"Muffin Brotherhood..." Lyra giggled, snuggling closer as Draco pulled her blanket over both of them.

For one reason or another, the name stuck.

At three in the morning, the alarm rang. Etienne threw a silencing charm on it.

The Brotherhood cheered.

* * *

The Man could see as the humans ran around in blind panic, slipping in the muck and stumbling, straightening themselves up at once and continuing with their escape, but not stopping, never stopping, because they were dead scared of the white lights that now tainted the endless night of the sewers like a spoonful of milk thrown into a cup of black coffee. It served them right. No creature should live in tranquillity if they had awoken a monster.

Being one himself, The Man knew a lot about monsters.

The humans had come one day, carrying their buckets and shovels, using their magic and tricks to pour out all the water that had once swished around his legs as he walked; to destroy the walls the he had once ran his hands over; to kill the defenceless creatures of the night that had once been his friends. But that was nothing, would have meant nothing, if they hadn´t brought _her _with them.

When she first came, she was weak and shapeless, a moaning, bloody bundle of dark materials inside a cage. They had let her fall into the darkness of a pit and fed her every day; dead meat, at first, when she´d still been too weak for anything else, but then they began bringing live prey, letting them fall into the pit with her so that she could have something to chase. That was something very important to know about monsters: they always enjoyed a good chase.

She had grown stronger and stronger, her millenary strength sizzling through the tunnels and caves, until no place was left untouched, and there was nowhere to hide in the place The Man had once called his home, because every single rock was coated with a thick layer of evil. Though they had been eager at first, _excited, _the humans began to realize that they had been mistaken. They would find no ally in the snake.

When the scream came, followed by the sound of scales sliding over stone, The Man felt relieved. If the snake had turned against the ones who had thought they held her leash, then this was finally over. The snake would leave, the humans would go too, and things would go back to the way they had been. He would feel this terrible fear no longer...

The screams of panic of the ones trying to escape, the shrieks of pain of the ones that had been caught, those noises were continuous as they bounced from wall to wall, but they would make no difference: the monster was in their midst, the massacre had started , and nobody would leave this place alive. The Man knew this.

The slaughter didn´t last long. When the screams died down, there were bones and scraps of torn skin there where there had been a sea of terrified humans running for their now wasted life, and the snake was nowhere to be seen anymore. The Man suddenly felt guilty: he had been so glad that the monster was leaving, he hadn´t realized... if the snake didn´t stay down here in the sewers, it would go up there, to the surface. The humans down here had brought their fate upon themselves, but the ones up there... he had to...

The Man was so caught up in his own thoughts that he almost didn´t hear the footsteps coming closer, echoing loudly in the dead silence like the ones of a giant. A human came walking down the tunnel, their figure clad completely in black, helping their step with a cane as they walked with the air of someone taking a stroll around their own yard. There was a rather satisfied... something about the way the human looked all around at the mess the monster had left behind, paying attention to every detail. In the tunnel lit only by the few torches left alight, the human seemed to radiate light, their unnaturally silver hair glowing with dormant magic and dark intentions.

It wasn´t until The Man caught the small pleased curve of the human´s lips that he realized that the monster had not escaped.

She had merely been _unleashed._

* * *

They weren´t speaking.

The air stank of rotten things and damp filth, and the narrow brick walls of the alley ran wet with stale water from the high up rooftops above them despite the fact that it had stopped raining half an hour before. It was as if time had stopped and the world had narrowed down to this dark alley, this terrifying, endless alley where who knew how many ghosts roamed.

"More than one or two, that´s for sure" Malfoy said over her shoulder, and Harry startled, realizing that he´d been broadcasting his thoughts again ". After the Great Plague and the Great Fire, the streets of London were brimming with ghosts. People didn´t know what to do with them, so they paid the local wizards and witches to chase them off"

"And let me guess: they were chased off to this part of town" Harry said, swallowing, because that was just his luck "And then they locked it and secured it so that no Muggles could come through"

"Precisely" Malfoy said as they reached a crossroad "Watch your step, Potter. It gets a little rocky from here on"

And rocky it got. The stone floors rose up in places and dipped in others, and pieces of debris laid scattered everywhere, so Harry had to take special care on where he was stepping, but he was careful not to lose sight of Malfoy: he harboured no hopes of finding his way back on this twisting and turning alley if he got lost now.

"You can´t get lost, Potter, our minds are connected. That´s almost as if I´d thrown a tracking spell on you" Malfoy drawled out. Somewhere above them, a cat screeched ominously.

Before Harry could reply, he was startled to see someone walking towards them. It was a woman, wearing a long dress and protecting herself from the rain with a fancy umbrella. He realized, then, that Malfoy had slowed down until she was walking right next to him. When the woman passed them by, Harry could see that her eyes were a pale, dead blue. Malfoy grabbed his hand and squeezed, and Harry caught the message. He ducked his head before the woman had a chance to look at him, and saw Malfoy´s respectful nod to her with his peripheral sight.

"You can look up now" she said after a few minutes, letting go of his arm. Harry looked over his shoulder...and there was no one there ". Some ghosts are not as nice as the ones at Hogwarts"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, unconsciously walking a little closer to her.

"Well, they are not exactly powerful, but they do hold some control over the places they haunt" Malfoy explained. As they walked further and further into this alley, the oppressive atmosphere became thicker, the air became colder, damper, as the stripe of starry sky above their heads, which had felt like their only connection to the outside world, became thinner and thinner ". An angry enough ghost can make a building fall on you, you know"

Harry swallowed, and Malfoy laughed.

"What´s so funny?" Harry asked in a hurried whisper, slightly disturbed by the way the girl´s laughter bounced off from wall to wall.

Malfoy shook her head "Your terrified expression looks even more ridiculous when you are looking like that"

Harry blushed. He´d forgotten he now looked like Malfoy´s long lost snake brother which, come to think of it, was the reason why they weren´t speaking at the moment. Or at least they hadn´t been speaking, until he got a bit... moved by the ghosts.

"Face it, Potter, ghosts make you weak" the girl whispered ". They even make you forget how much you hate me"

"Shut up, I´m not talking to you"

"How sad" Malfoy chuckled again ". I´m being ignored by the only live person fifty miles around. Poor little me..."

They turned another corner, and Harry saw a cloaked figure walking towards them, but it was not a ghost. He was coming closer, and Harry could see that he was not walking: his feet were floating a few centimetres above the ground. He carried something about himself, an aura of pain and cold like Harry had never felt before: something out of an awful book, a horror movie, or...

_...the cold hand on his shoulder, tearing pieces of him away, the cold so unbearable he could hardly breathe, could hardly remember the feel of warmth, of comfort, of..._

"Shit" Malfoy muttered. In a move quicker than lightning, she caught Harry´s arm and, with a bit more strength than what was probably necessary, she pulled him towards her. Before Harry could protest, he was on the floor underneath Malfoy, who had one hand pressed against is mouth and a finger pressed against her lips.

"_Be silent, and look" _

With that, she moved of him and allowed him to kneel next to her behind a large pile of debris.

It was, as Harry had sort of already known, a Dementor. It was small, though, much smaller than any other he had ever seen. It´s gray, decaying humanoid body emanated darkness and cold, sucking all the light from the already poor lit alley, it´s torn cloak rising up to cover the little stripe of sky above their heads. The closer it got to where they were hiding, the more tired Harry felt, the more his mind began to wander towards places he had been trying very hard not to let it wander to, but he could not help it. When the putrid being was right in front of them, Harry left out a silent breath and was unable to stop his head from falling to Malfoy´s shoulder. Any moment now, he would hear his mother scream... Any moment... Now...

He was so cold...

"_I thought we had a deal about angst" _a voice in his head drawled out, seemingly bored, although the warm hand rubbing comforting circles against his back was bit contradictory ". _Your behaviour is unworthy of a Gryffindor. Ignoring agreements... shame on you, Potty"_

And like a punch in the stomach in the middle of a nightmare, the light reappeared around him, and Harry was free.

"They are like fungus, in a way" Malfoy said, studiously ignoring the fact that he hadn´t removed his head from her shoulder yet. The Dementor had already passed them by ". They grow there where things are left to rot"

"Things like what?" Harry rasped as he forced his neck to lift his head on it´s own. His throat was dry.

"Like grief, or fear" she rose to her feet ". You can feel it in the air when they are around, that depression that seems to claw at your heart. People may die, but feelings remain: they fester and decay until they become something obscure"

"And unnatural" Harry said, remembering Professor Lupin´s first description of those soulless creatures.

"You think so?" Malfoy hummed as she extended a hand to him "I always thought them rather natural, like an earthquake or a typhoon. They are sadness at it´s most basic"

Harry stared at her before taking her hand "Sadness isn´t like that. Sadness isn´t...slimy"

"Rotten sadness is" the girl said, pulling him up, but her eyes were far away ". The more time they are left to rot, the larger a Dementor they become. Can you imagine that? Dying in so much sadness that it actually lives on after you are already dead?"

"Not really. Actually, I don´t want to imagine it" he answered, looking up at the stripe of sky, which was now streaked with grey clouds. It was better than looking at Malfoy´s suddenly empty eyes.

"_Finite Incantatem" _he heard Malfoy say, and looked over at her just in time to catch the way the black strands of curly hair on her head faded back to their original silvery colour, straightening back down as muddy green eyes returned to their sparkly gray nature. Gray? Scratch that, those eyes weren´t gray: they were silver, bright and sharp like metal, just a few shades darker than her hair ". There. Now we are both back to normal. Happy?"

Harry raised his hand to palm his face, and grinned hugely when he felt both his glasses and his scar "Ecstatic"

The once again silver haired girl nodded, satisfied "We probably won´t find anyone around here anyway. Although... let´s just hope we won´t find any more Dementors, either"

Their luck wasn´t that good.

Some of the buildings they passed were crawling with Dementors, but most of them were still too small to try and suck people´s souls out, which was the reason why they all remained in the darkness, huddled together, almost as if they were scared of them. No other ghosts passed them by, though, for which Harry was thankful. They had been walking for about an hour when, finally, they reached the end of the alley: a huge stone arch, leading to a haunted-looking room filled with ancient wooden benches facing towards what had once probably been an altar, with a red and black chessboard styled tiled floor and a cathedral ceiling filled with holes that allowed moonlight to shine through... a church.

Across the large mass room, there was a door. It was wooden and looked heavy but, from the looks of it, it was the only way out of this place.

"St. Mary" Malfoy told him as they stood just outside ". According to Professor Binns, this is oldest church in the city, older than St. Bartholomew the Great by a good two-hundred years"

Harry whistled "I don´t know what amazes me more: that piece of knowledge or the fact that you actually listen to Professor Binns´ class" he said, taking the first step inside the decidedly creepy place. There was a revolting smell everywhere, the smell of a dead body slowly decomposing and stale blood oxidising. Harry suddenly wished his nose were as faulty as his eyes.

"Sometimes I just can´t make myself fall asleep" the silver-eyed girl made a face at the room in general before walking inside as well". I feel his little ghost tortoise eyes on me and can´t help but listen to all that useless stuff"

"About Giant Rebellions and Goblin Wars?"

"Goblin _Rebellions _and Giant _Wars" _the girl corrected, snorting at Harry´s eye roll.

"Who cares?" he said, throwing his arms up in the air "It was ages ago. Literally! They should be teaching useful things at school, like the war against Voldemort, or... "

"Right, because they are going to teach children about the whole picture of a war against a man whose name they are not even allowed to say"

It was just an off-comment, dripping with Malfoy´s dislike for the educational system and society itself, but there was a lot to be made about those few words.

How far, exactly, did the fear for Voldemort go inside the minds of the children raised in magical homes? Harry couldn´t know: he´d been raised as a Muggle, away from everything magical. The most terrifying thing his childhood had held was his uncle´s belt, so he really could not imagine what it must have been for people like the Weasleys or the Patils, both families that had lost very much in the war and for whom dark magic had always been a very tangible concern. With a thorn in his heart, he remembered Neville´s parents, and knew in his heart it was no coincidence the boy had so many issues with confidence.

You-Know-Who... powerful words.

"You have your cloak?" he heard Malfoy ask as soon as they reached the door, but then he remembered she´d said they would need the invisibility cloak. With practiced ease, Harry pulled it out from the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled it around himself, holding the edge at arm's length so that Malfoy would fit as well, but the silver haired girl just stood there looking at Harry´s floating head and half body sceptically.

Harry wiggled the fabric "Well?"

The girl sighed, ducked her head and walked under the cloak. It took them a few minutes to accommodate, but after a few tugs, pulls and muttered curses (mostly Malfoy´s), they found themselves standing side by side under the cloak, a little cramped together, but comfortable. The top of Malfoy´s head, which had always towered a few inches above Harry´s own, now rose to just under his ear. It wasn´t much, but it was a small victory of height that he felt rather proud of, even if it had taken him five years to claim he was finally taller than his arch enemy. And they weren´t even enemies anymore!

"I can still smash your face in, Potter" the girl muttered, pulling the cloak further down so that it would cover their ankles. Harry didn´t doubt it: Malfoy had never relied much on her own physical qualities while in a fight, since she didn´t have many advantages on that side. Sheer force of will and unending stubbornness were the key to her manner of fighting, so height or weight advantages didn´t make much of a difference for a girl like that.

"I would like to see you try, Malfoy" Harry muttered, because he meant it. He´d never seen Malfoy as a girl before, and he would not start now just because he happened to like her as a friend. After all, old habits die hard and a good fist fight or two never hurt anyone. Much.

"It´ll be a bit of a challenge to walk like this, but the stench in here is going to kill me , so what do you say we venture outside?"

Happy to comply, Harry pulled the door open. This place was highly disturbing.

Even though the church had been dead silent, behind the door things were different. They found themselves standing on a sidewalk, facing a street lined with cabarets and pubs, crowded with a boisterous lot of people that seemed not very shamed to parade around with a very slight amount of clothes on. From every open window came out music and laughter, and fairies of various sizes and colours floated around, providing light to the moonless night.

"What the hell?" Harry whispered as they climbed down the few steps down the sidewalk and went to cross the streets, narrowly avoiding a very large, very drunk woman singing the French hymn "What are we going to find out here? Everybody is...partying. On a weekday!"

"This, St. Potty, is what London´s wizarding mothers have called "the wrong side of town" for the past five decades or so" Malfoy explained. Even though they were cramped together under the cloak, her small careful steps still held a weird kind of elegance about them, while Harry half trailed, half hung off her every stride ". It´s like the centre of a wheel: if you look long and hard enough you´ll find someone who knows what you need to know"

They came to a sudden halt as so not to collide with a couple of witches dancing a kind of waltz that had never been seen before in ample circles along the street.

"Yeah, I don´t see how that principle might be of use in our situation" Harry whispered as they resumed walking ". This people don´t seem very well versed on the lore and folktales of ancient demons"

"We are not going to ask them, moron" even though he could not see it, the eye-roll was there ". There´s a pub down the street, The Splinched Hag: a shabby old place where all the wannabe Death Eaters get together to discuss their meagre conquests"

"How do you know that?" Harry asked, awkwardly leaning forward to whisper. Thanks to the noise all around them, there actually wasn´t much of a need to whisper, but their closeness ensured him that if he were to shout Malfoy´s eardrums would not thank him "You know your way around here pretty well, too"

"Rumour has it I am a wannabe Death Eater, too"

"Are you?"

Malfoy snickered "As you probably already know, I´m not good at following orders. Or kissing ass. I´m especially bad at kissing ass"

Harry hoped that to be true.

It took them a good half hour to reach the pub Malfoy had been talking about, mostly because the sidewalks and alleys were so crowded they were forced to stop at times to avoid awkward collisions with the by passers. Also, it soon became obvious that if either of them miss stepped or tripped, things would not go well, for even though the people here were out for a night of party, there was no mistaking what they were: dark magicians. Almost as one, Harry and Malfoy slowed their stride to a mere cautious stroll.

Turning a corner, Harry spotted an ugly low building nestled in the middle of a bunch of closed shops with bars on the windows, as witches and wizards walked around wearing grim robes that contrasted with their joyous attitude, which gave them an all in all macabre appearance. It seemed to be the jewel of this place, for it felt like everything here was held close by this place´s gravitational force. On top of the wide open two panel door, a sign pullulated, moved by the suddenly strong wind: The Splinched Hag, it read, a name that would have probably been funny if the whole situation weren´t so fucking hair rising.

"Wait, Malfoy!" Harry whispered hurriedly, holding the silver haired girl back by both arms when she moved to cross the street and run straight for the door "Shouldn´t we have some plan or something?"

"Hands off, Potter. I already have a plan" the girl snapped. She seemed to freeze, then, and she let out a curse, turning around to face him so fast a cascade of silver hair hit Harry´s unprotected face like a whip ", though you might not like it, since it requires some breaking and entering, so I will completely understand it if you want to stay here"

Even though it sounded like a very Malfoy-ish joke, the girl looked surprisingly serious, like doing something like this was actually something she considered...wrong. It was a funny thought, really, that the same girl who executed spell after spell outside Hogwarts, not caring about the rules and hiding herself with a confusing charm that blamed any wizard passing by for her magic, would find her basic principles about right and wrong on a moment like this. But still...

_"…Salem´s Witches Privacy Act 1845 declares that every witch and wizard has a right to keep their own mind to themselves and forbids legilimens to go further than peeking unless they want to hang from the neck until they die…"_

_"…are you going to give her bullshit promises like the one you gave Joan?"_

"…_rules were made to be broken, Potter. I thought you were familiar with that…"_

She really did have some principles, didn´t she? There actually was a line she would not cross. Thinking about it, really, it was so... Malfoy.

Harry feigned and pretended he was giving it some thought.

"Well" he said ", I´ve come this far, haven´t I? I might as well see it through"

Malfoy´s smile would have been blinding had they not been in the dark.

"Done, then"

* * *

When he opened the door and saw her standing there, ramrod straight, her clothes rumpled and her long hair frizzy, he realized he´d been expecting her all along, wondering how the fuck she had found him and, more importantly, if she had found him, how come his father hadn´t?

_Your father is not looking, _a little voice in the back of his head said.

He did not answer.

First things first.

"What´s the code word?" he asked, leaning against the door stand and mustering all the fake bravado he had at his disposal to try and not look scared, because he realized just now that he should have asked that question before opening the door.

But she raised an eyebrow and changed her posture, dropping all her weight on her right foot which gave a kind of lopsided look, and smirked the kind of smirk a really mean person gives a dumb one to let them know they have handed their arse on a silver platter, don´t worry, it will be handled with care.

"We don´t have a codeword, Frère" Pansy Parkinson drawled out. That was, of course, the code phrase ", but even if we did it probably would not help you right now if I actually were a Death Eater in disguise"

Theo Nott sighed, stepping aside to let her come inside "Will I ever hear the end of it?"

"Code: No" Pansy said as she strolled inside the small room, promptly catching sight of the narrow bed ". Your stupidity holds no boundaries. If only I had a camera, the look on your face was something our grandchildren should see"

Leaning back against the closed door, he watched as she plopped face down on the unmade bed, dropping her broom on the floor next to it, before walking over and lying down next to her, facing the ceiling.

"How did you find me?" Theo asked softly. He´d been so certain he had left no trace.

"The room´s booked under one Donette Rooth " Pansy answered, her tired voice muffled by the pillow she had buried her face on ". You are the only person I know that´s stupid enough to think that is a good anagram for his name"

Theo laughed "It sounded pretty clever to me at the time"

The black haired girl huffed "Yes, well, it´s dumb and you are lucky no one has found you yet"

"We are leaving tomorrow morning, I don´t think anyone will find me now" after a pause, he added carefully ". After all, they are looking for you now"

"They won´t find me" Pansy said, unmoving, and Theo feigned he had not noticed how tense she had gotten ". Etienne won´t let them find me"

Draco would have probably had something snappy yet enlightening to answer to that, but Theo could merely muster a hum.

"There are spiders here" Pansy whispered, not looking up. Leave it up to a Parkinson to give a shit about hygiene while they were on the run.

Were there spiders here? He had not noticed. He´d been here at the Leaky Cauldron for about two weeks, going over every word he remembered from the lecture about duty and family and honour he´d been given by his father before the old man parted for France. Theo had left the deserted estate as soon as he´d gone, acutely feeling the void his mother had left behind when she had passed away two years prior, leaving him alone to face the ravings of a man almost completely corroded by time.

Now that he looked around he could see a spider web that went from wall to wall, complete with a few bugs caught here and there. He felt like one of those bugs, caught by an invisible net that would not let him be free, like the little fly that had been held captive for far too long and did not bother to struggle anymore.

He could see them all there, caught in that web, a pair of flying ants, long dead and rotten, forgotten... Vince and Greg. A cricket, a small cricket, a non-flying insect that, even if it managed to get free, would be killed by the slow fall down to the never ending abysm... Blaise. A moth, a night butterfly, beautiful yet covered in dirt, hanging from a fine thread; uncertain as to what would be it´s fate...Pansy. A small green Junebug, shiny and bright, caught on the net but unwilling to let itself be eaten, not caring if it´s legs got torn off in the escape so long as it´s broken wings could fly it away...Draco.

He tried to look for his little brother on the net, he tried to find Lyra Malfoy, but realized with a sigh that both of them had already been devoured by the spider.

Fascinated, he watched as the spider crawled expertly to it´s nearest source of nutrition: a cockroach, which had been hanging there very still, but had begun moving with wild abandon and desperation when it sensed the spider coming... Etienne.

Even if he tried, he could not picture Pansy´s brother the way he knew the man was at the moment, fatigued and faded, because his mind kept showing him the image of a sunny thirteen year old boy, the same boy that had taught him how to climb trees, the same boy that had a huge crush on Draco. Those days, seemingly so long ago, had been so simple, so easy...

Every day, they would go on adventures, be it catching the golden salmon from the pond at Parkinson Manor´s garden or stealing cookies from Lady Zabini´s secret stash. They would sneak away from their families during boring tea parties and such, and would go off chasing new mysteries. It was back in those days, when summer holidays were on the whole year and they could not be bothered with classes on good manners, that they created their little brotherhood...

Perhaps Pansy was right.

The only difference between Lord Parkinson and the others was that he was not a Death Eater because he wanted to. The man was caught, just like they were, and he would do his best to ensure his child didn´t suffer his fate if she had a chance to run.

The one thing Theo could say about the Parkinson men, father and son, was that, even if they weren´t particularly fond of each other, or even Lady Parkinson, they truthfully cared about Pansy. He didn´t know how much, but he hoped their love was enough to buy them another night.

* * *

Etienne was absolutely and irrevocably knackered, which was not a very strange development considering he´d been feeling that way for the past five weeks, at the very least. Since this whole Death Eater training had started, his life was a disaster, and now, on top of all the heavy labour and forced kidnapping, Pansy had done what he´d been expecting she´d do for the past year or so: she ran away. With a muttered curse at his missing sister and the world in general, he let himself fall on the barstool, dropping his head on the bar and allowing himself to feel like shit.

"She´s gone, then" he had whispered incredulously, just loud enough for his father to hear as the wind hit him with enough force to almost knock him off his broom.

"Yes" Lord Parkinson said in a clear, relieved thread of voice as he instructed the search party to go the wrong way. His light blue eyes were swimming in tears of some feeling he could not quite place, and all the lines in his face were tells of saddened age, none of laughter, but this was something that needed to be done ". Even if she is alone, she will be better off if she is away from all of this... from us" _From me._

He was right about that.

"She won´t be alone" Etienne had countered, feeling a small childish flutter in his stomach at the thought of silvery eyes, but he did not let it show. He was a man now, no matter how young or insecure he felt at the moment ". Draco won´t leave her. I´m sure"

"So I hope" his father said, the ghost of a half smile playing on his lips for a second, but it was so short lived Etienne wondered if it was ever there ". I hope"

Sitting here in this old pub, surrounded by wizarding London´s most wanted, Etienne knew that all he could do was hope. He knew he should probably be feeling angry, angry that Pansy had an out and he didn´t but, right then and there, after everything that had happened, everything he´d done, he could only feel tired, like everything he had once been had been taken from him, even his capacity to feel sorry for himself.

"You alright, kiddo?" asked the bartender in an American accent "You look like shit"

Really?

Sometimes he wondered if this man was really as airheaded as he appeared. He´d been the bartender at the Splinched Hag for at least twenty years, and he still pretended he was oblivious to the fact his dingy pub was the place of preference for the scum of the city to hang out. The dilapidating building was a common favourite amongst the dark magicians and rough criminals that that felt at home there, inside a dark place that was dangerous in the day, but deadly at night. At least it was if you weren´t wise to it.

And yet Mortimer treated them all as if they were bloody family. Either he was too stupid realize how dangerous this people were or he thought he was powerful enough to hold his own against them.

"Today wasn´t a good day" Etienne conceded, not lifting his forehead from the bar, not even when a pint was landed right next to head with enough force to make the old polished wood tremble.

"This one´s on the house, then"

Just for that, he could have kissed the man.

He zipped some of the amber contents of the tall glass, unwilling to admit the alcohol made him feel better. It was a family trade, after all, and a highly undesirable one, no matter how much his father had once enjoyed boasting about his drinking prowess. Not anymore, though, not since that day.

Etienne had wondered, sometimes, when the nights were too long and the ceiling above his bed was not interesting enough, if his father had planned it all along. Had it been a scheme, then, having three children, knowing he could only save one, or had it been an accident? Had he not known what fate awaited them? Had he not cared? Was it all a part of a greater plan? He hadn´t known, but that was the past. Nowadays, he knew it simply did not matter.

He was the older brother of two sisters and, in the end, he had not been able to save neither. Who was he to judge the man who´d given them life?

No one.

He just hoped Pansy´s luck would stay true, that she´d be brave enough to face the rest of her life, because he sure as hell would not be able to face his for much longer.

Gulping down the remaining of his pint, he rose to his feet and went upstairs to the spartan rented room he shared with spiders, cockroaches and rats, along with the occasional bat and a perpetual moist atmosphere, slightly relieved only if he kept the door open. It was not much, but it was better than Parkinson Manor, were at every corner the ghost of a memory threatened to drive him insane. He dropped his coat on the narrow bed and sat down, beginning the slow process of untying all the laces on his boots without much enthusiasm. He´d managed to pull the first boot off, when he felt the tip of a wand press against his throat and force him to sit straight.

"No screaming, no running" a raspy voice behind him commanded clearly, the neutral string of words cutting through the stillness of the room as he felt an immobilizing charm course through him so that he could only blink and move his mouth, but could not reach for his wand. Fuck.

_Is this it? Will you kill me? Does it finally end? Do I get a say in this? _

"Who are you?"

_Do you know how long I´ve been waiting for this?_

"It doesn´t matter" the voice countered, hard as steel, and Etienne felt the cold fingers of fear close around his heart. Huh. Go figure. He´d been wanting to die for months (years, if he was being honest with himself, but since when was he?) but he still felt afraid for what might happen to him.

Maybe not everything´d been taken from him. He still wanted to live.

"Why do Voldemort´s henchmen spend their nights tearing little children away from their beds?" the voice asked as Etienne´s blood turned cold. He´d been trying to forget about that.

"I...don´t know what you are talking about" he breathed out, trying hard to keep his breathing regular as his heart began pounding in his chest.

"Don´t give me that, it´s bollocks and you know it. You were a part of the operation, so do yourself a favour and tell me what I want to know" unwavering, the stranger continued ".What does Voldemort need orphan Muggles for?"

Etienne swallowed, feeling the stranger´s wand press even harder against his throat, but was surprised to find he did not feel scared anymore, he just felt detached. With that same detached feeling, he analyzed what he was supposed to say in a moment like this, but realized there really was nothing to say but the truth. Thinking of the Dark Mark, tattooed on his forearm with valiryan fire, he wondered if forsaking an oath he´d been forced to make still counted as treason.

"Hala" he said, not giving a damn what consequence uttering such word would bring to him. If there was someone willing to interrogate a Death Eater just to find out the truth, they deserved to know it. After all, were he not in his position, Etienne would have probably done the same thing ". Lord Malfoy summoned a demon, to start the new holocaust. For it, he needed twenty eight innocent souls"

"New Holocaust?"

"The Dark Lord´s plan is to wipe out all the Muggles and Mudbloods from the face of the earth" he elaborated, throwing caution to the wind and to hell with it ". He says that the best way to do so is to let them destroy themselves, make them step over one another as they try to stay in the sun"

"A final solution, then?" the stranger snorted, disdain dripping from every word "Where does he keep the demon?"

"Underground, in the sewers" Etienne didn´t hesitate.

"Can it be killed?"

A pause. Then "I don´t know"

The stranger seemed to mull it over, and Etienne waited for the one question that would finish everything. Because his luck was not the best by a long shot, it came in a drawled out string of words dripping with merciless hatred "If he needed twenty eight souls, why is it that twenty nine children are missing?"

"_I can save her!"_

"_What for? She´ll just be taken underground! You´d buy her a day at most!"_

Why? Well, he knew why.

"_But..."_

"_Either you do it and it´s clean, or Grabbe will come over to slash her throat and be done with it!"_

"_But... but..." _

"_Do it"_

But what? There were no buts, the girl was dying and that was that.

But it wasn´t just that, was it? He´d been there, he´d followed orders. It didn´t matter that he had been forced to take the oath and become a Death Eater, it didn´t matter that he had not hurt them because he´d wanted to. It didn´t matter that Rose Valery has asthma and she the stress of being kidnapped had triggered a severe episode, making her throat close and not letting her breathe. It didn´t matter that they were on the run and did not have enough knowledge, didn´t know which spells to use, didn´t know. It didn´t matter that the final outcome would have been the same.

"_I´m so sorry"_

He wondered, sometimes, as he lay awake on his bed in the middle of the night, if there was something he could have done to stop it, what could have been different, who had been at fault, but in the darkest recessed of his mind he knew it did not matter whose fault it was, because perhaps it had been his father´s mistakes that lead him to the position he found himself in, maybe Voldemort was the one giving out the orders, maybe the whole situation had been what made him do it, but that did not change the fact that he had done it.

"_Avada Kadavra!"_

It did not change the fact that a better person would have died first.

"One of them, a little girl, had an asthma attack on the way..." he swallowed, feeling like he could choke on his own guilt "We didn´t have her medicine..." _so I killed her, because I was ordered to._

"She died, then" the voice whispered, but it was an accusation, a mock.

He said nothing. The stranger knew.

"Keep telling yourself that" the stranger´s breath hitched and, with added disgust and hatred, she finished " _Frère_"

_I found the word! It´ll be our word from now on. It´s perfect for our brotherhood..._

And the spell was lifted, the press against his throat was gone, and the stranger´s presence disappeared from behind him. When he turned around, he saw he was alone, the only thing left there to show that there had actually been someone other than him in that room was the faint scent of potion spices mixed with sweet wild roses and the thrumming of his heart as it tried to leap out of his chest.

_It´s perfect! It means brother and it´s also used to address fellow members of an organization… _

"Draco" Etienne whispered.

The curtains swaying up and down, moved by the wind, seemed to nod and laugh at the same time.

_Frere!_

* * *

Even though he was feeling powerless and indescribably angry, Harry´s current turmoil of emotions did not hold a candle to the mayhem he could sense on Malfoy´s end of the bond.

She was trembling. Was it anger? Was it fear? Harry didn´t know, so he just tried to go with the flow and, making an effort not to make any sound or be of any bother because this particular Malfoy he didn´t know how to deal with, he trailed behind her, limiting himself to keeping the cloak over both of them as they exited the room via the open door and practically ran down the stairs.

Malfoy was breathing hard like she had run a marathon, her previously careful steps replaced by an unbalanced jog that was not natural in someone like her. When they finally made it outside, instead of heading across the street to begin the way back to the church, the girl ducked into a dark alley, dragging Harry behind her before slipping from under the cloak. Only when a gush of cold air laced with the putrid smell of the alley hit him did Harry startle at noticing exactly how much he´d been relying on Malfoy´s perfume to mask the general stench and moist surrounding them. Shrugging off the cloak, he felt the first few drops on rain fall on him.

Three quivering steps and Malfoy was pressing her back against the brick wall, her eyes closed as she slid down to a crouch.

"They are all dead" she said, resignation making her voice sound like she had actually seen it coming. With a sigh, the silver haired girl let herself fall completely to the floor, sitting with her back against the brick wall and her knees to her chest. Somewhat distractedly, she began fishing in her pocket for something, and Harry was surprised to see it was a cigarette. Surprised, yes, but not very concerned. This was Malfoy he was talking about.

Turning around, Harry looked at the street now rather deserted street, and felt absolutely desolate. Once again, he´d failed to do anything useful. People had been stolen from their homes and, yet again, he´d been powerless to stop it. The guilt that he had promised Malfoy he wouldn´t feel was bubbling up in him, taking hold of his very soul. The rage was such that there was no way to get it out, there was no release, nothing to help him go back to the way he always was. He wondered if his silver haired companion used cigarettes for that, to anchor herself to the real world when what was inside became too hard to bear. Come to think of it, he had not seen her smoke in all summer, which was weird, considering that they´d been together most of the time.

Everyone needed an escape route sometimes, he mused, looking up at the sky and letting the raindrops fall on his face freely.

Cigarettes were one of the few things both Muggles and Wizards consumed. Sirius had told him in one of his letters that he found the act relaxing and soothing, a balm to all his bad thoughts. Harry did not share the thought. The sheer scent of them was disgusting and even a small contact with the smoke, like passing by a smoker in the street or standing next to them in a shop, sent him on a coughing fit that he could not seem to stop. It was impossible for him to understand how people could stand the taste, let alone using it as some form of anchor to reality.

An anchor... how strange. It was rather uncharacteristic of someone like Malfoy, someone who was so very down to earth that not even the worst of shocks could rattle her cage for too long. Harry remembered with a heavy heart how coolly she had handled the situation after the TriWizard Tournament, how she managed to not only save his life but also to ensure he would be safe in his time of weakness, even though Cedric had just died. Harry remembered her startled giggle, her rainy eyes...He knew Malfoy now, knew her well enough to know that Cedric´s death had shattered her, and yet she had soldiered on. Perhaps she was not brave, as she herself had said several times, but she was certainly strong.

Harry chuckled, watching how the lightning made clouds shine, their silver lining a perfect mirror of a familiar pair of silver eyes. She had forcefully pulled him out of his own self imposed hell many times... even before he began seeing her as a friend.

"Feeling sentimental, Potter?" Malfoy drawled out from behind him, once again showing she could not stand silence. Harry turned, walking to crouch next to her in the small rain-free space she´d created magically when he had not been watching, and saw she was still in the process of lighting her cigarette. He frowned. Why had it taken her so long? Had she misplaced her lighter in one of her many pockets?

The girl started the mechanism with her thumb, keeping the small flame sheltered between her hands to stop the feathery wind from reaching it.

Had she been watching him?

The flame died down, leaving them in the shade once again, and Malfoy pulled the ciggie from her parted lips to blow the first puff of smoke.

Harry stared.

"What do you think you are doing?" he spluttered.

Malfoy took another pull before answering "Smoking a cigarette"

Harry continued to stare "A marihuana cigarette"

Another long pull "And?"

"Marihuana is illegal!" he whispered fiercely.

"I take you´ve never smoked any"

Harry frowned "What´s that have to do with it? It´s still illegal"

Malfoy chuckled, looking at him with a milder version of her You Are A Moron look "Smoking a joint is not the worst illegal thing I´ve done today" and then she surprised Harry by thrusting the offending cancer stick at him.

"I don´t..." he started, but stopped talking at Malfoy´s look. Harry sighed, taking the ciggie from her ". I might as well. I´m all fucked up anyway"

"Oooh...you said fucked" the girl accused childishly, smirking as she let her head rest on the wall behind her, her eyes closing as Harry took his first pull ". Hold the smoke"

Easier said than done "How long?

Malfoy chuckled "For as long as you can"

As long as he could was not much, apparently, because as soon as Malfoy finished the last word he was letting the smoke out in a coughing fit and giving back the offending joint to it´s original owner.

"That stuff is vile" he wheezed, feeling dumb ". And it doesn´t do anything"

"Wait for it" the girl breathed out, taking another pull with her eyes closed ". This one´s special Theo mixed it up with pixie dust"

"Do you often carry drugs in your purse?" Harry asked sullenly.

Malfoy laughed, passing the joint back and staring until he´d taken another drag before giving it away with a grimace "Sometimes I carry them in my back pockets"

She was calmer, it seemed, the turmoil that had seemed to be destined to become some sort of panic attack only a few minutes ago had now subsided. Her face touched by the warm light radiated by the tip of the joint she still held between her lips, Malfoy looked truthfully peaceful, her white skin delicately rosy. Her hair, though, which was usually aglow with the magic residing just under her skin, was opaque and dead-looking; a true betrayal, considering how well the silver haired girl tended to hide the way she was really feeling. Harry felt a little guilty at realizing he felt glad he wasn´t the only person here feeling like the world had just ended.

"You are not going to go psychotic on me, right?"

Harry startled, and then blushed furiously, because Malfoy had turned her head his way and was looking at him strangely, so she had probably caught him starring at the stray lock of silver hair that fell on her forehead "How- why would I do that?"

The girl shrugged, passing the joint. Hesitantly, Harry took it. It was almost entirely consumed, now.

"I read that happens to some people" then she giggled at Harry´s appalled expression ". Easy there! Odds are like a million to one"

Harry snorted "I´m so lucky I just might be the one"

"Oh, come on, Potter!" Malfoy whined, lightly punching him on the shoulder "We had made such a breakthrough with that depressive streak of yours...you´ve been more optimistic lately" she sighed, leaning her head back on the wall again ". Although, in the light of the latest developments, your approach on things might be the wisest"

"My approach?" Harry questioned, looking as the self-rolled cigarette he held between his thumb and index slowly consumed itself.

"You always assume the worst possible outcome" the girl said, her voice suddenly very far away from him.

He did, didn´t he? It was his thing. He always took whatever life threw his way and knew, just knew, without even looking, that it would turn out the worst way possible. Things had never worked out for him, so why would they start doing so from one moment to the next? Sure, it tended to work for him, since he was usually right, but it was not very fun. It was actually no fun at all.

"Maybe I should start doing that" he heard Malfoy say, and his heart stopped.

"Don´t" he said before he could stop himself, and he turned his head to look at the girl, but could not tell dept at his current state, so instead of only turning his head he also turned his torso and lost a bit of his balance, stopping his unavoidable fall forward by placing a hand on Malfoy´s shoulder and the other one on her knee.

The girl´s eyes widened "What?"

"Don´t...do that" Harry stuttered, abandoning his current crouch to sit back against the wall as his blush reached nuclear levels. He looked down, to where he had dropped the joint in his attempt to keep his balance ". You are not like that" he whispered as he picked it up.

It was true. For all of her masks and the large quantity of ice layers she threw over herself, Malfoy was not a pessimist. She took whatever life threw at her and did the best of it, for better or for worse. She had a goal, so to say; she would not be content with some mediocre half-assed attempt, she would go for it with all her might and she would either fail abysmally, or victoriously beat every odd.

Before going to Hogwarts for the first time, Harry had not known people like that were for real. He had thought that the kind of people who could change the world around them; who could reach into every person that crossed their paths and get a response from them, be it good or bad; who remained etched in people´s memory, even after only a passing glance. For him, a shy little orphan who´d spent his life inside a cupboard, people like that existed only in movies.

But then an aristocratic, snotty, annoying little blond kid had stormed into Madame Malkim´s shop like she owned the place. She had used big words and had possessed a demeanour more suitable for a high society lady, not a kid barely over ten. But she had something that other children did not have: she was impossible to ignore. Even though they had only exchanged a few words, Harry had thought of her a lot on his way to Hogwarts.

And then at school she had been such a bitch, so very mean, Harry had hated her instantly. Never had he met anyone so rude, so terrible, someone he just wanted to punch... well, if he was honest with himself, his uncles and his cousin fitted that description, but they had never moved him towards action.

If he actually thought about it, their horrible attitude towards him had always made him feel sad, abandoned, miserable... In that same way, Ron´s instant offer of friendship, and Hermione´s later on, had made him feel happy, content and fulfilled. What he felt for Cho Chang, well, when he saw her, he felt the butterflies and everything, but at this very moment he was being honest with himself and he didn´t know the drugs were doing it or what the fuck but, in the deep recesses of his mind, Harry knew very well that no one in the entire world made him _feel, _truthfully _feel, _the way Malfoy did.

Even from the very beginning, every time he saw her he would feel the need to do something, anything, just to let that feeling of rage and hatred out. And the girl had not disappointed, always pushing the right buttons to ensure a violent and (admittedly) exhilarating explosion, which might not have been the healthiest thing for them to engage on but, well, as Malfoy liked to say, there were worse things out there.

And now that they were not on such bad terms anymore, it was still the same. Talking to her was thrilling, in the same way that staying in silence was calming, peaceful. Malfoy, with all her flaws, was the brightest individual Harry had ever seen. She could change him with the blink of one silver eye, in ways that no one else had ever done. She was light, whereas he had always been in the dark. He wondered if, at first, he´d been blinded by her.

He wondered if he had blinded her, too.

"You are right" Harry was yanked from his musings by Malfoy´s voice ".This is just a step back. There´s no point in sitting around feeling miserable" she stood up, holding out her hand for him to take". The night´s still young. There´s a few more places we can check for info before we go off to Hogwarts tomorrow" she cocked her head and a smirk drew itself on her lips ". Unless you are already tired, Potter"

Harry rolled his eyes, taking her hand and standing up in one fluid motion, even though he still felt remarkably dizzy "You wish, Malfoy"

Almost as if she had read his mind (she probably had) Malfoy pulled out her wand and whispered a charm. Just like that, Harry felt normal once again.

"Blaise came up with it. It´s pretty useful, don´t you think?" Malfoy commented, stepping out from their rain-free area as she buttoned up her coat "Too bad we haven´t come up with something for hangovers, though"

Harry smiled, following her on their way out of the alley "Right"

And, just as he was taking his third step, he froze, doubling in pain because his scar was throbbing terribly. Ha heard Malfoy call his name, he felt her hands steadying him, but he could not move. The pain was so strong he could feel himself falling inside it, feel the sounds around him dulling into constant and unintelligible noise.

Suddenly, he was in the Room, but Malfoy was not sitting across from him. He was alone and, as soon as he realized this, something gripped him tightly and pulled him towards his open Door. It was dark, behind the Door. Harry knew this: his mind was like the cupboard, and there would never come a day when he would stop trying to escape. He did not want to go, but it was so hard to fight. The hands pulling him were strong, stronger than anything he had ever felt before, and soon he was pulled into the darkness, deeper and deeper inside, powerlessly looking as the door began closing, shutting out the light. When the Door was almost fully closed, a beam of light opened it, and Harry cried out when he felt a painful tug on his little finger.

When he looked, he saw the bond.

A long yellow string, one end tied in a bow around his little finger, the other end disappearing in the light behind the door.

"_Come on, Potter, you can beat this!" _Malfoy was pulling the string that united them with all her might, but something was pulling him inside his own mind, and he knew that once he was fully inside the Door would close, probably to never reopen again ". _Potter_!"

He felt tempted to tell her how useless it was, but his mouth was sewed shut. Whatever was pulling him towards the darkness was strong, and they had a good grip, they knew he could not resist long, not when faced with himself.

"_...there´s no point in sitting around feeling miserable..."_

Harry let himself be pulled. What was the point of living, anyway? The people that had been stolen... he should have saved them and, in the end, he had been powerless to do so. He was not Malfoy. He was not strong, he did not shine with that never ending will... he was just Harry. What had people been thinking when they appointed him the saviour of the wizarding world?

Fuck, he was so tired...

"_Potter, if you let this happen, I swear to the Gods..."_ she was becoming more and more desperate, she didn´t know how to end that phrase. In Harry´s experience, you knew the world was coming to an end when Draco Malfoy did not know what to say next. It was nice, though, in a selfish and strange way, to see her like this. She had seen him at his worst; it was only fair that he should get the chance to do the same. He didn´t even know what was happening! She probably knew, of course, and had neglected to tell him.

"_...this is just a step back..."_

She was so far away, now, her silver hair the only thing that he could still distinguish as he was pulled further into the black. There was no point in keeping his eyes open, so Harry let them fall closed. The string was strung so tight he knew it was about to break, it´s yellow light shattering into a million fragments. Soon there would be nothing left of the bond they had been building over an entire summer...

"_... __and we will be forced on each other until one of us dies, or until Voldie is defeated, whichever comes first."_

Malfoy had told him that, hadn´t she? On day one. Back then, the bond had felt to him like a shackle, something placed on him to once again keep him at bay. But with time it had evolved: he did not see it as imprisonment anymore, but as something better. A reminder that he was not alone, and he was not over. This was no finished.

Voldemort wasn´t dead.

Malfoy wasn´t dead.

He sure as hell was not dead. If the bond wasn´t broken, if he was still alive, he could keep fighting...

Harry looked up towards the door, locking his eyes with the light and listened to Malfoy curse him as she called his name. Strained but still strong, the string still held them together.

"_...deal, then?"_

They were still stuck together, for better or for worse.

"_Deal"_

Taking a deep breath, Harry pulled himself upwards, using all the strength he had left. He could do this, he just needed to be strong. Be strong and follow the light...

When he opened his eyes, and he was once again in the alley, drenched to his very bones, lying on the floor while Malfoy shook him.

"Stop it, stop it, I´m fine!" he hissed, his throat so dry he actually felt thankful when some raindrops found their way inside "What was that?"

"I don´t know" the girl confessed. She sounded sincere, but she also looked seconds away from a mental breakdown ". I have no idea"

"What?" Harry questioned, sitting up.

"Wha-what happened?" Malfoy spluttered, looking at him worriedly "How did you...?"

Harry sighed "We are not done yet, are we? There are things left to do"

The girl shook her head, sending some raindrops flying from the tip of her silver locks "I´m not following"

Harry frowned, finding it difficult to put his thoughts into words. He could have prompted her to read his mind, but at the state they both were and considering what had just happened he knew it was more a risk than anything else.

He sighed "I just tried to be optimistic" it was the closest to it he could get ". Letting myself die would be useless, even if I actually felt like doing so"

Malfoy stared "You had an epiphany?"

"Something like that" Harry chuckled, and felt rather relieved to see a smile sneak up on the girl´s lips.

But as soon as the smile appeared, it faded, and Malfoy was standing up as she pulled out her wand and adopted a fighting stance, pointing at the end of the alley, the bit furthest away from the street, where a peculiar sound was emerging from.

"We are not alone"

Harry tried to stand up, but found he couldn´t. His legs where weak and he was dizzy, his limbs dodging every order his brain tried to give them. Alarm bells were ringing in his head and, he hoped, in Malfoy´s head also, because if there was something there they needed to run from the girl would probably take off, not knowing that her companion of sorts suddenly had a bad case of jelly legs.

There was a perversely seducing sizzle of scales sliding against the floor, punctuated by the sound of pieces of tile being sent scattering around, like something of considerable weight was sliding...

Malfoy placed herself in front of him, between him and whatever it was she was pointing her wand at, silently holding out her arm for him to take. Harry arranged his legs under himself before latching to Malfoy´s shoulder, half holding it-half climbing it, until he was holding himself upright by leaning on the girl´s side. He pulled his wand out of his pocket, pointing it at the suspicious noise and swallowed, not really knowing what to expect, but feeling the tension in his body ease a little at the silver haired girl´s closeness. At least he wasn´t the only one who was going to get skinned here.

"_We aren´t going to be skinned"_

"_Whatever happens, I want you to know-I hold you responsible." _

"_Just calm down, moron. Aren´t Gryffindors supposed to be brave?"_

"_I should calm down? You are the one who´s shaking you know."_

"_Yes, well, I´m not brave, we had already established that. "_

"..._you also don´t like waiting."_

A pause.

"_You don´t like it either."_

With a shaky hand holding her wand, Malfoy swallowed audibly and whispered _"Lumos". _A white light shone from the tip of the girl´s wand, touching the darkness and slowly revealing the unknown.

And Harry wished it hadn´t.

It was, in essence, exactly like the ones depicted in the books they´d read, and yet he could not help but feel that all of those historians and medieval monks had severely underrated the terrifying nature of this millenary beast. It was deceivingly large: the human torso was shaped and sized like that of a woman; but the small and feminine shape was compensated by the long, thick tail coiled underneath and around her, occupying most of the space in the ample alley, but what caught Harry´s attention beyond everything were her eyes: she had three; a pair of black hungry orbs, and another one, vertically placed in the middle of her forehead, but it was smaller and glassy, more a deformity than a species trade.

He wondered how the hell they had not seen it, but soon realised that the thing had not been there before: somehow she had materialised at some point between the moment he fainted and woke up, because now he knew who had been the one pulling him down and into the darkness.

"_It´s the woman we saw today" _Malfoy told him through the bond, not daring to speak up, even though the sound thunder and rain falling heavily on rooftops would have probably hidden her voice.

"_The ghost?"_

"_Demons can take many shapes, she´s been probably following us around"_

"_That´s how she could hide back there for so long"_

"_Peasants disappeared from their villages, leaving behind no trace" _Malfoy reminded him "_. They walked into the forest on their own, lulled by some enchanting singing..."_

"_But I heard no singing" _Harry countered _". She probably knows that we are bonded. She knew we would not let each other be lulled by her spell..."_

"_...so she lessened one of us, crippling the other"_

Harry swallowed "_I don´t think I can run"_

All over the beast there were telling signs of a killing spree: the blood that covered her even though there were no visible wounds on her flesh; the torn skin dripping with blood that hung from her claw like nails.

Oh, God, they were really going to get skinned.

"I cannot believe I´m saying this, but I might just agree with you" Malfoy managed to say just before the horrible creature screamed bloody murder and lunged at them.

Ala was out, and she was hungry.

* * *

**Aaaaaaannnnd, what is this? A cliff-hanger! I have been refraining myself from using them from too long, so as soon as an opportunity rose I took it.**

**First of all, as usual, thank you for reading, and thanks for the support, guys. These few months have really not been the best ones of my life, but writing this story, and reading your very nice comments, has really made me feel more up-beat. Inspiration came and went during the writing of this chapter, so you will probably notice many mood changes while reading.**

**The only reason why it has taken me so long to introduce Draco´s sister into the story is that I could not decide how to name her. I winded up calling her Lyra, after the constellation that, beginning at the north, is bordered by Draco. **

**The name Muffin Brotherhood is actually the translation of a name my friends and I used to call ourselves (La Hermandad de las Magdalenas). To this very day, I do not know how or who came up with it.**

**Hey, do you like my little drawing? You can see it full size if you look me up on DeviantArt, I go by FiLau there too. I´d post the link, but FF doesn´t let me! ****I drew a lot more, I´ll colour them and post them later. **

**XOXO FiLau**

**P.S. For the record, yesterday my house flooded for like the sixth time in two months! I´m beginning to think there really is an Ala here in BAires.**

**P.P.S. Isn´t the world supposed to end today? O.o**


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